Redemption
by Kyoko0001
Summary: Kurogane had never seen Fai look at someone with so much love in his eyes. Established KuroFai. Fluffy brotherly relationship between Fai and Yuui.
1. Chapter 1

Kurogane had never seen Fai look at someone with such love in his eyes.

The dimension Witch had contacted them.

Well, had contacted Fai to be specific.

She had a request. The mage had accepted without a second thought and now Kurogane sat as his mage cradled a little bundle of skin and bones.

It wasn't as though the ninja minded. Since their journey had ended, their life in Suwa had been quiet and that didn't work for Fai. The blonde had an incessant need to be busy, and there was only so much studying, gardening, and cleaning the idiot could do.

When Fai ran out of things to do, his mood became detached. Kurogane sympathized. Too much free time allowed one to ponder the past.

His mage had a dark past.

He knew Fai needed something meaningful to fill his time with—he just hadn't thought taking in a small child would be it.

They had settled in Nihon nearly a year ago and had migrated back to his childhood home of Suwa at the end of winter. At first, they had been busy from sunrise until sunset clearing out demons from the overgrown fields and abandoned houses.

They spent the spring helping to restore the Suwa estate and the farms that surrounded it. They helped cultivate the fields and cut back the overgrowth from the forgotten road. They helped the farmers with their livestock and trained the new youth in the area to defend their new homes.

As summer approached, there was less and less that needed to be done. Fai wasn't much help when it came to training the kids how to use a sword and spent most of his days helping the sick or injured. Kurogane knew that Fai couldn't use his magic to heal but years of learning how to make positions gave him an extensive knowledge of medicine.

There were only so many people though, and even that was not keeping him busy.

Today had started like any other. Kurogane had to be up early to train the kiddos so the mage had been up even earlier to make breakfast for the two of them. The ninja knew that because of the vampire blood rushing through his veins, Fai didn't sleep much. When he did sleep, he often had nightmares.

Because of that same vampiric blood, Fai couldn't wander far from Kurogane though. With how discontent Fai seemed with their new simple life, the ninja feared that his unhappiness would cause him to want to leave this place, though the idiotic mage would never admit those feelings out loud.

Just as they had sat down to enjoy a simple breakfast, Fai perked up. The Witch wished they pay her a visit.

Kurogane had been warry to allow his mage to go alone—but the trainees were going to be here any minute and Fai insisted he would be alright alone.

He had come back in one piece. Kurogane couldn't complain about that. He also hadn't returned alone though.

Kurogane had waited up for the idiot mage. A bottle of Sake into it, he was starting to wonder just how the hell he would get back to the Witch if Fai didn't return soon when suddenly, there was a whirl in the middle of the courtyard.

The ninja had been instantly relieved to see his mage back unharmed and was halfway to the blondes said before he noticed the little bundle in his arms.

"I—is this?" the voice of the child was high pitched and the ninja almost missed what he said. He slowed from a run to a walk and approached unhurriedly.

"Yes, little one." Fai's voice was so soft as he kneeled to set the child down. Two dingy, tiny feet were soundless as they settled on to the ground before Fai stood again. The small boy clung to the front of his clothing as he looked around the courtyard.

As soon as Kurogane got a good look at the kid, he felt his jaw hit the floor. Incredibly long hair fell around a sunken, malnourished face that looked startlingly familiar. The small boy wore a dirty tunic that was several sizes too big and was unraveling in several places. He dirty little hands had clenched onto the fabric of the mages fursudio and his expression was panicked.

"Long time no see Kuro-koi." Fai flashed him a dazzling smile as he stroked the child's head trying to comfort him. "I have someone I would like you to meet."

"I see that." The ninja didn't know what to think as the boy started to quiver.

He had seen this child before—when they had been in Celese.

Ashura had shared portions of the mages memory with them all, and this is exactly what his mage looked like as a boy.

"It's kind of a long story—" The blonde started to speak but Kurogane cut him off.

"That's your twin, isn't it?" Fai chuckled and smiled down at the boy. The skinny little thing looked as though he was going to have a heart attack. Enormous blue eyes watched him cautiously and Kurogane was suddenly aware that he was most likely what was making the boy uneasy.

"This is Yuui. He lost his Fai, and found his way to the dimensional Witch's door." The ninja nodded slowly and watched as Fai leaned down and again picked up the starving child so that he would feel more secure. "He's going to be staying with us if you don't mind Kuro-myuu."

"What the hell do you think mage? What kind of question is that!" Like he would turn any kid in that shape away from his home. Let alone his mages twin… Well, someone who shared a soul with his mages twin.

"That's what I thought but I think little Yuui here would feel better if you told him yourself." Fai did a 180 turn so that the ninja could again see those vast blue eyes staring at him. As soon as they made eye contact the child buried his face in the mage's hair, effectively hiding himself from view.

"Tch." Kurogane rolled his eyes and took a few more steps forward so that there was less distance. "Yuui is it?"

"Yes, sir." The child's voice was just barely audible, muffled even more by the fabric that covered his mouth.

"Yuui, my name is Kurogane. Glad you're here." The tiny blonde nodded his head quickly and Kurogane shook his own.

"Thanks, Kuro-chan." Fai turned around again and shot the ninja a tired look. He would get filled in later he supposed and followed his mage into the house.

"Don't thank me, idiot." They made their way into the kitchen, the thin little bundle clinging to Fai for dear life as he lit the lantern with a bit of magic.

Kurogane listened to Fai hum from his seat at the table while the ninja started to prepare a simple meal for the child. He couldn't cook much, but he could manage a simple rice gruel for the kid while Fai tried to comfort him.

Kurogane had never seen such love in his mages eyes as he cradled the boy called Yuui.

He knew that the version of his mages twin had passed away in order for Fai to be able to live. He knew that his mage has never truly gotten over that loss and that he still blamed himself even after all this time. He couldn't imagine what was going through the moron's head right now.

As the food got closer to being done, the smell caught the little boys attention. He watched the ninja from his spot on Fai's lap, big cerulean eyes followed his movements as he stirred the bubbling pot.

"Fai?" The saccharine little voice broke the serenity of the room and the mage stopped humming to answer.

"Yes?" Kurogane watched as Fai allowed the child to shift so that he could better look about the room.

"What happened to your Yuui?" The ninja tried to look busy while Fai gave the miniature version of himself a sad smile.

"My Yuui passed away many years ago when I was very small."

"You've been all alone since you were little?" If the ninja didn't have a keen hearing, he most likely would have missed the whispered conversation.

This was the first time Kurogane had ever heard his mage speak of his death. Not of King Ashura, not of his twin.

"Well it's true that my Yuui has been resting for some time, I haven't been all alone." Fai pointed at the ninja and giggled. "I have Kuro-cutie over there. He makes sure nothing bad happens to me now."

Yeah well, that was only half true. Kurogane always at least made sure the idiotic mage made it out alive.

"My Fai was my only friend… So, I am all alone now." Kurogane could hear the kid sniffle as he turned the heat off to allow the food time to cool.

A good meal for an empty stomach would help the kid sleep so he couldn't be sad.

"Not at all little one. You know they say everything happens for a reason? Even your Fai leaving happened for a reason. You're not alone though. Kurogane and I are going to make sure of it." Fai was stroking the child's long hair again and it seemed to comfort him for the most part. The ninja didn't miss that the taller blonde avoided any mention of death.

Probably for the best.

Kurogane got out a bowl and scooped a little of the gruel into it before setting it in front of the sniffling child. His eyes widened while he looked at the food as if he wasn't sure if it was actually meant for him. The ninja watched as his mage carefully took a bit of the food on the spoon and held it up to Yuui's mouth.

"It's not very flavorful but I think it will sit ok in your tummy." The child took a bite of the food offered to him and slowly swished it about in his mouth before swallowing.

It was obvious that this was the first thing he had anything to eat in a while. The conversation died down as Fai continued to help Yuui eat, the mage started humming again.

Kurogane left the two to their moment and went about drawing a bath for the filthy kid and finding something that he would be able to wear to bed. The kid was obviously uneasy around him so the ninja made sure to keep his distance from the mismatched twins.

He sat in the bedroom and listened to his mage hum away while he washed the layers of dirt and grime off of Yuui. Unlike the full-size twin, the child wasn't a chatterbox so he liked the kid already.

 **0o0o0**

Fai was restless as they sat down for breakfast. He wasn't particularly hungry but he wanted to make sure that Kurogane had all that he needed to get through his day.

Suwa was a calm place. It must have been a wonderful place to grow up and he could see that the ninja held it close to his heart. Kurogane was working hard to bring it back to its former glory and would need all the energy he could get.

Fai knew that the ninja was going to be gone for most of the day. Their normal routine left Fai at home, the locals were still wary of him and his magical abilities.

No one of this land had magic such as his so it was only natural that they were a bit wary of it. The blonde had adopted a new country as his own before and knew that it just took a little patience and a few good deeds. He made medicine for fevers, salves for rashes, and set broken bones. He helped the farmers irrigate their fields, harvest their crop, and maintained the barriers that kept them safe.

When there was no one who required his assistance, he cleaned he and the ninjas home or tried to make sense of the written language. He knew Kurogane loved this place but he still felt out of place.

Normally, the only time he got to spend with Kurogane was during the morning and evening meals. Today though, it seemed he wouldn't even get that much. Fai was just about to take a sip of his hot chocolate when the magical communication hit him

 _Good Morning Fai._

 _Hello Yuuko! Haven't heard from you in a while is everything ok?_ The mage sipped his mug and smiled. Kurogane seemed to notice that something was going on and watched the blonde carefully

 _I have a favor to ask of you and Kurogane. Would you two have some time to stop by?_ Yuuko had never asked for a favor before but after all that she had done for their small group, Fai was happy to help no matter what it may be. Maybe it would break up some of the monotony of the day.

 _Of course! Kuro-bunn and I will be happy to help. I'll be there soon._ With that, the connection was cut and Fai flashed the ninja a grin.

"Guess what Kurokuro." Fai sipped his hot chocolate and allowed the ninja to finish chewing the food in his mouth.

"Let me guess. The Witch again." He didn't seem overly annoyed. Mostly when Yuuko contacted them it was because the kids were sending them a letter.

"She has a favor to ask us and wants us to go to her shop." The ninja raised a single eyebrow.

"What kind of favor."

"Who knows! Wouldn't it be fun to go and pay her a visit though?" Kurogane took another bite of his food and sighed. Fai had lost all interest in the omelets he had made at the prospect of a minny adventure.

"I can't just leave Suwa right now, mage. There's no one here to step in if something goes wrong and the kids are gonna be here for training in an hour or so." Fai pouted. Of course. Kurogane wasn't making it up ether—if one of the villages were attacked, he and Kurogane were the only two strong enough to do anything about it.

"What if I go? You'll be ok here without me for a little while right?" Fai had the ability to move across dimensions on his own due to his magic. The flow of time was slightly different between Yuuko's shop and their home here in Nihon but it shouldn't be too big of an issue if he didn't stay long.

"I guess. But you can't stay for long. You're going to have to feed again soo—"

"I know, I know. I won't be long." The blonde was not only excited to visit the Witch but have an opportunity to cast such a large spell. He may be able to sleep tonight after world walking.

"Why are you so excited to get tangled up with that Witch anyway? It's always been trouble." Kurogane took another bite of food. Fai knew that the ninja didn't like it when he wandered far. Kergs would never admit just how much he worried about the mage, but Fai didn't like to add any unneeded stress.

"I think it will be interesting. Besides, I miss it. Moving from world to world." Fai finished off his hot chocolate before standing. He had already prepared a lunch box for the grumpy ninja, and if push came to shove—Kurogane could cook something simple for dinner if Fai hadn't returned.

"Tch. Just be careful, idiot." The ninja motioned for Fai to come closer and the blonde all but scampered over. A simple kiss was exchanged before Kurogane went back to his breakfast and Fai went into the courtyard to cast the spell.

Without a staff to focus his magic though, Fai drew out the runes one by one. His magic was a light purple and crackled as the spell was slowly completed. Pushing more magic into each of the runes, he felt the cloth that held the dimension together begin to rip and in no time at all, he was standing in front of the dimensional Witch's shop.

Maru and Moru dashed out from the front door and rushed to the blonde's side, grabbing each of his hands.

"The Wizard is here! The Wizard is here!" The little girls chanted in unison and pulled him forward. "The Wizard is here to save us all!"

That was strange…

Fai smiled none the less as he was pulled through the front door. The girls allowed him to pause to toe out of his shoes before they continued pulling him down the hallway. As soon as he had entered the house, he could hear the sound of someone wailing. The high-pitched keening noise was heart-wrenching and only grew louder as he was pulled through the house.

Yuuko, the Dimensional Witch, sat in the middle of the room holding both of her hands over her ears. She perked up as soon as she set her eyes on the confused mage.

"Oh thank gosh you're here!" Yuuko looked genuinely relieved to see him. Fai took the seat he was offered and was relieved when the howling cries died down a bit. Someone was in a lot of pain. "You have to help us Fai. I fear I'm going to lose my mind."

The Witch dramatically leaned back in her seat, using a hand to cover her eyes in a mock fainting position. Fai only smiled at her and waited for her to continue. His stomach was doing flips… something was off.

"You see—I had something brought into my shop not long ago. The price was paid so I took it off the person's hands and its driving me absolutely nuts! It hasn't stopped crying for weeks!"

"What type of a thing could be making such a grief-stricken noise I wonder?"

"I suppose I should say I had someone brought into my shop, to be more specific." The wailing started up again this time sounding more panicked.

"Someone paid for a wish with a human being?"

"Oh goodness no. There wish was for me to find this sniveling brat a home." Yuuko flipped her hand dismissively and sighed. "Anyways—I knew you and Kurogane are playing house in Suwa and since your both boys it's not like you can have children—"

"Oh." That was not the type of favor the mage was expecting… Sure, he had felt as though he lacked purpose in Kurogane's world but children were a big responsibility and Fai had a feeling if given half the chance—he would fuck any kid up.

"Before you start coming up with an excuse, I think you should meet him. I think you will be very interested in my offer." Looking over her shoulder she called for Watanuki to collect their guest.

The blonde smiled politely at his host. Kurogane was going to kick his butt when he got home for being such a pushover… His acute hearing could pick up on the sound of a door being slid open. The crying intensified and he could here poor Watanuki do his best to offer some comfort.

Two sets of footsteps could be heard, one set was light. The child's no doubt. His nose picked up on the scent before he could see who it was and he felt his heart stop.

It couldn't be.

Yuuko's assistant reentered the room with a scraggly little child following close behind him. As though he too had been able to sense Fai, the boy had stopped crying and looked curiously at him with large blue eyes.

Nausea bubbled in the mages stomach at the state of the poor thing. Long blonde hair was dirty and matted, fell past the boy's waist. His face was sunken and he looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in months.

"I don't understand." His angel soft voice was high pitched and so very familiar to Fai.

"Hello, Yuui." The blonde gave the child a sad smile. He shared a soul with this twin brother who had passed away so many years ago. Not only was he a perfect copy of his twin—he sounded just the same as well. The mage felt as though his heart was going to break.

"I-I I don't—"The little boy stepped around Watanuki and looked at the floor. Fai could feel his magic flaring from the emotion. The mage assumed this little one had lost his twin as well. The one Fai shared a soul with.

"Ahhh! He finally stopped! I knew you could do it Fai!" Yuuko clapped her hands together happily and the small child jumped in surprise before running to the mage and hiding behind him.

Fai could remember those days.

Carefully the mage turned to Yuui and placed a hand on each trembling shoulder. It seemed to calm the boy down for the most part and Fai smiled at him again. "I bet you're very confused, hm?"

"You feel like my brother." Cerulean eyes narrowed as he looked at Fai skeptically. "You have the same name as my brother."

"I do. I share a soul with him, little one." Fai wanted nothing more than to scoop Yuui up and cradle him close. He honestly couldn't believe this was happening. Of course, he knew there were other versions himself and his twin in the universe—he just never thought he would get to meet one.

"There's something wrong with you." A tiny, trembling hand reached out and touched the older man's face hesitantly. "You feel like my Fai but there is something wrong with you."

"No no little one. Nothing is wrong. I'm just a little different from the Fai from your home." The mage held one of his hands away from the two of them and extended his claws to demonstrate. As he did so his eyes flashed gold and the big blues watching him widened.

"But your magic feels like my brothers." The mage retracted his claws as Yuui wrapped both of his arms around Fai. "What happened to make you that way Fai?"

The poor child seemed seriously concerned with the taller blonde's wellbeing. Even though he himself looked as though he was in need of attention and had seen better days. Just like Yuui.

"Well you see, I wasn't being very careful and got hurt. My best friend made a deal that saved my life and to do that I was turned into what I am now." The little blonde nodded and Fai could here Yuuko snort in the background.

"Best friend hm? Is that what you and Kurogane tell people?" Yuui seemed to be suddenly reminded that they were not alone and crawled into the mages lap burying his face and doing his best to hide.

"Come on now Yuuko, Kergy is my very very best friend." He laughed and ran a hand through the child's dirty hair while Maru and Moru skipped about the room chanting 'Fai-mommy Kuro-daddy sitting in a tree'

"Call it what you will—but the real question is Fai, will you allow Yuui to come live with you?" Yuuko no doubt knew without a shadow of a doubt that Fai wouldn't turn his twin away.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." The child's big blue eyes widened and the mage could feel him cling even closer.

"Since you are doing me a favor Fai, I must pay you before you go. Watanuki? Will you grab our payment from the warehouse?"

Wasn't that something?

Fai was sure Kurogane would get a kick out of Yuuko paying them instead of the other way around. The dimensional Witch's assistant returned with a familiar object in his hand.

Fai's staff.

Well, that would defiantly make getting the two of them home much easier. Ashura had had that specially crafted for him to withstand the large amounts of magic only Fai could push into spells. He would be lying if he claimed that he hadn't missed it. For more than just sentimental reasons.

"Thank you, Yuuko." Fai lifted Yuui and held him on his hip while he gripped the staff in the other hand. "Well keep in touch ok?"

Yuuko waved her hand dismissively and Fai followed Maru and Moru to the entrance of the shop. Slipping his shoes back on, he walked out to the middle of the courtyard and casts his spell.

Yuui's grip tightened as the dimension started to morph and they materialized back to where Fai had left from this morning.

Of course, Kurogane was waiting for him, the look of surprise on his face was too cute! The blonde was willing to admit that Kurogane had become one of the most important people in his life. He knew that his Yuui would have loved teasing the grumpy ninja just as much as he did, making the mage excited to introduce the two.

"I—Is this?" Yuui looked up at him with worried eyes and Fai kneeled down so that he could stand on his own to greet the ninja. He could feel the poor thing start to tremble and Fai allowed for him to cling to his robes for comfort.

"Yes, little one." Kurogane had slowed from a quick jog to a walk and approached them more cautiously. The blonde put on his most dazzling smile as he faced his lover. "Long time no see Kuro-koi. I have someone I would like you to meet."

Yuui started shaking harder and knew there wasn't much he could do. The little blonde was just a skittish child, as he had been at that age. He knew Kurogane would have most likely scared the daylights out of him had he met him in his early days in Celese. "It's kind of a long sto—"

"That's your twin, isn't it?" Fai was sure that the ninja didn't mean to sound so harsh. He chuckled lightly and looked down at Yuui.

"This is Yuui. He lost his Fai and found his way to the dimensional Witch's door." Kurogane nodded slowly at his words. Silly ninja… The little blonde trembling got worse so Fai decided to give in and lift him back up, hoping to provide more comfort. "He's going to be staying with us if you don't mind Kuro-myuu."

"What the hell do you think mage? What the hell kind of question is that!" It took every bit of self-control the mage had not to roll his eyes at Kurogane. He could be so scary without even trying. Fai rubbed a hand up and down the skinny child's back.

"That's what I thought." Slowly he turned around so that Yuui would have to look at the ninja. "But I think little Yuui here would feel better if you told him yourself."

"tch." The mage could feel his brother try and hide away from the ninja's stare as he slowly approached. "Yuui is it?"

"Yes, sir." The angle soft voice responded. He wondered if Kurogane could tell how bad the poor thing was shaking.

"Yuui, My name is Kurogane. Glad you're here." The tiny blonde nodded his head and Fai turned around to set his eyes on his lover.

"Thanks, Kuro-chan." Slowly, Fai made his way to their home with the ninja close behind him. Yuui settled down once they had started moving, hopefully, put at ease by the cranky ninja's attempt at a warm welcome.

The house was completely dark as they made their way to the kitchen. He allowed the small blonde to cling onto him he used a bit of magic to light a few lanterns and was going to set the boy down at the table.

The ninja had surprised him by heading over to light the stove, so Fai settled at the table with Yuui still in his arms. He wondered if he had seemed so lost his first night with Ashura-ou.

He remembered how terrified he had been when the King had set him down after they had first arrived. He hadn't wanted to leave his majesties side to bath or even eat the first few days. The King hadn't minded at all, however, and had hummed to him softly.

He always thought that Yuui would have liked the lullabies that Ashura-ou had hummed. Kurogane perked up from his spot in the kitchen when Fai had started to hum a familiar tune, it seemed to put all three of them at ease.

Yuui seemed to perk up a bit and Fai watched him look around the room cautiously. He didn't know what kind of world little Yuui had come from, but this was a lot of change to happen so quickly. As soon as the child noticed he was being watched by the mage, he frowned.

"Fai?"

"Yes?" Yuui shifted so that he could get a better look at the one who shared his twin's soul. He had that same concerned look on his little face and it made Fai's heart melt.

"What happened to your Yuui?" Fai smiled at him and looked up towards the ceiling.

"My Yuui passed away many years ago when I was very small." It had been several lifetimes ago it seemed. He had mourned hard and had refused to accept his passing for a long time… He hoped that this Yuui had an easier time with the loss.

Never in a million years would he ever wish feelings like those on his brother.

"You've been all alone since you were little?" This child had suffered a similar loss not long ago and was still concerned with the Fai's feelings. The resemblance to his brother was phenomenal. Fai didn't want him to worry however and tried not to seem too sad as he remembered the twin who had given his life so that he may live.

"Well, it's true my Yuui has been resting for some time, I haven't been all alone." The mage noticed Kurogane eavesdropping on their hushed conversation and giggled. "I have Kuro-cutie over there." Fai pointed at the ninja. "He makes sure nothing bad happens to me now."

Tears appeared at the corner of those childish blue eyes again. Yuui sniffled, doing his best to hold the tears in. "My Fai was my only friend…. So I am all alone now." The mage felt his heart instantly break.

Not only did he sympathize with the child's dismay, but he never wanted his brother to feel that loss.

The utter aloneness after a lifetime together.

Learning how to live again after losing your better half.

"Not at all little one—" Fai drew a hand though Yuui's tangled hair. "You know they say everything happens for a reason?" The little blonde nodded hesitantly, whipping tears from his eyes. "Even your Fai leaving happened for a reason. You're not alone though. Kurogane and I are going to make sure of it."

Both of the blonde's attention was caught when Kurogane go a bowl out of the cupboard and scooped some of the food he had been so kind to prepare into it. He set it down in front of Yuui and sat on the opposite side of the table.

The scraggly child was hesitant so Fai lifted the spoon and scooped a bit of the rice porridge on to the end of it. "It's not very flavorful but I think it will sit well in your tummy." Yuui opened up his mouth and took a bit of the food and chewed slowly.

The mage could remember all too well how hard it had been after not eating for so long. He let his little twin take his time and had patiently held the next bite out to him. Kurogane only stayed long enough to see that the little thing was eating before wondering off.

Fai could hear the bath start and the mage wondered when the cranky ninja had gotten so thoughtful. He knew Kurogane missed looking after their younger traveling companions just as much as he had. If only Princess Tomoyo was here to see this cute side Kurogane usually hid.

Yuui could only manage a few bites of food and was half asleep as Fai carried him to the bathroom. He set the child down and helped him out of his ratty clothes before putting him in the bath. Dirt was washed away to reveal a pearly white completion that matched Fai's own skin. Dirt that was washed away from the child's delicate face revealed dark circles and brought out the hollowness in his cheeks. His entire body was covered in bruises…

Yuui was hardly able to keep himself awake as Fai started to work a wide tooth comb through the ends of his matted hair. The mage was doing his best not pull too hard at the knots, but the little blonde was patient with him.

By the time the tangles were brushed out so that he could get the comb from root to tip, the poor child was practically dead on his feet. Rinsing that last bit of soap away, Fai lifted Yuui out of the tub and wrapped him in the large towel the ninja had set out for them. Slipping one of the T-shirts they had acquired on their journeys through worlds over the child's head, Fai braided his damp hair so it wouldn't be too terribly tangled the next day. Yuui took his hand and they walked up the dim hall to the only bedroom that had been restored.

Kurogane's childhood home was a vast estate and they had been restoring and rebuilding it room by room. Currently, they had one bedroom, the one he and the ninja shared. Fai was sure Kurogane wouldn't mind.

The ninja had already gotten out the extra futon and set it up and Yuui all but fell into the blankets. The mage doubted he had gotten a good night's sleep in a very long time and tucked the blankets carefully around him. Fai continued to hum until he sensed the boy's magic settle, confirming that he had fallen asleep.

Kurogane was watching him from the futon they usually shared. The poor Ninja looked tired too.

Fai wished that with the amount of magic he had expended world walking, that he too would be exhausted, but his vampire's blood stepped in when his magic was low. He was wide awake and with the number of emotions rushing through him at the moment, he wouldn't be able to sleep any time soon.

As quietly as he could, Fai crawled into his bed and pulled the ninja down next to him, wrapping both of his arms around the larger man's neck. He didn't realize his entire body was trembling until he snuggled up next to the sturdy ninja.

"You ok?" The ninja's voice was hushed as he ran a hand up and down the blondes back. Fai appreciated the comforting gesture and leaned into the touch.

"Yeah. My mind is just racing. This feels like a dream." Fai knew this wasn't his Yuui—as a child he had wanted nothing more than to get back. Even as an adult he had dreamed of what it would have his brother by his side…

After all, they had gone through to get where they were today… He finally had Yuui back. Maybe not the little boy he had shared a womb with but one that shared his soul.

The resemblance was startling. It brought so many emotions and memories he kept locked away back to the forefront of his mind.

"So that's your twin then." A soft kiss was pressed to the blonde's forehead and he sighed.

"Another version of him, yes."

"Was your Yuui this skittish?" Fai chuckled lightly. Yuui had always been much shyer then he was.

"You should have seen me when I was his age. I was the same way." Poor Ashura-ou had had his hands full when Fai had first arrived in Celese. Though, Fai wasn't a complete stranger to this poor child, whereas he had never met the King before the day he was rescued.

Fai certainly hoped Yuui had an easier time of it then he had.

"I assumed you always had a big mouth." The ninja kissed his forehead again.

"How mean, Kuro-koi. I was a lovely, innocent child." Fai hadn't become his rumbustious self until he was well into his adult years. It had taken decades for his soul to heal to the point of being able to laugh and joke.

He hoped it didn't that long for poor Yuui.

"You think you would have been afraid of me?" The amusement was heavy in his voice and Fai all but rolled his eyes.

"Kuro-tan shouldn't be so happy about scaring a little kid." Fai snaked a hand up between them and booped the ninja's nose with his index finger.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I didn't do anything but make him dinner." Kurogane had been on his best behavior, the blonde would admit. Even so, the mage could only imagine how scary the crimson eyed ninja would have seemed to him as a little boy.

"He'll be fine once you get to know him. Moving to a new world is hard without your twin. I might share a soul with his Fai, but I'm sure I'm a sad replacement."

"Pretty soon I'm going to have two idiot mages to worry about." The ninja shifted so that he was on his back and Fai rested his head on his chest. That was a nice thought. Kurogane looking after both of them.

"His magic is so similar to my brothers it was startling at first. The sooner we get him started on lessons, the better." High emotions and untrained magic were a dangerous combination. Yuui had a gentle soul and would be crushed if he accidentally harmed someone with his fledgling power.

"You gonna train him?"

"Who else could?" A lot went into training someone with abilities he and Yuui possessed. It took years of training to even begin to get a full understanding of the complexities of spell casting, potion making, and weapons training.

"Guess you right." Fai closed his eyes and listened to the ninja's heartbeat.

They had a long road ahead of them and their work cut out.

No more words were spoken between them. It didn't take long for Kurogane to fall asleep. Fai assumed he was just as tired as he was most nights, and the morning was fast approaching.

Fai wished he could sleep but his mind was racing.

Memories of his first night in Celese with King Ashura were playing on repeat and he felt tears prickle in his eyes. Too many nights he had stayed up wishing that Yuui had been in his place at Ashura's side instead of himself. It was almost as if the universe was giving him a chance to redeem himself.

He wondered why it was that the poor child had had to suffer a fate similar to his own. Did the cursed twins bad omen transcend dimensions? Were they not allowed to be together and happy in any dimension?

Fai wondered if he would be able to do half as well with sweet little Yuui as Ashura had done with himself. Could he teach Yuui to smile? To love? To joke?

What if he couldn't?

How had the king done it?

As the mage became increasingly upset, his magic fluctuated unevenly. It had been so long since he had had to worry about controlling his magic when he was upset. Not since before he had started his journey. He was startled when he felt a tiny, trembling hand touch his shoulder.

Turning quickly, he locked eyes with Yuui. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard him wake up.

"What's wrong little one?" The blonde sat up and pulled the child into his arms.

"You're very sad Fai. Did I make you sad?" His voice cracked as he welcomed the warm embrace.

Oh, Yuui…

"Oh no. You didn't make me sad—I was just remembering what it was like when I was your age." They had woken Kurogane and Fai wanted to allow the ninja to get some rest before he had to start his day, and so slowly got to his feet and carried Yuui out of the room and down the hallway.

Fai had loved when Ashura would carry him through the halls of Luvel castle.

"What was it like when you were little?" Unlike where the mage had grown up, this house didn't have vast winding hallways or spiral staircases. He carried the little blonde out into the courtyard and settled under the sakura tree—not far from where they had first landed.

"After I lost my Yuui, I was taken in by a very sweet man. I just hope I can be half as good to you as he was to me." The tiny child wiggled out of his grasp as soon as they were seated and locked eyes with him.

"You miss him?" Fai hadn't had time to morn Ashura's death after that spell had nearly taken both he and the ninjas life. He loved Ashura dearly. He missed him daily. He regretted not keeping his promise.

"You're quite perceptive." The mage smiled softly. He didn't want Yuui to worry. Yuui would always rather worry about Fai then himself and the mage knew they should be focusing on him.

"Where is he now?"

"He got very sick and passed away." By sick he meant to poor King had gone mad—and by 'passed away' he meant that Kurogane had driven a sword through his chest.

"I don't like it when people die Fai." The child's eyes fell to look at his hands. He sounded so broken.

"Me either." Fai sighed and looked up at the sky. "What happened to you before you got to the dimensional Witch?"

"Papa hurt Fai. Mama made a deal to send me away to a safe home." The child started pulling at the grass. Memories no doubt flooding his mind.

"I know we have the same parents but I never got to meet our father. Mine died before I was born." Fai had loved his mother dearly though. It warmed his heart to know that though his own mother hadn't been able to free he and his brother—Yuui's mother had no doubt saved his life.

"Mama said he wasn't the same after he came back from the war."

"What do you think?" Fai lifted a hand up to cup the boy's cheek, forcing their eyes to meet.

"I think papa is a bad man. He hated me and Fai and was mean to mama too." Fai pulled the little boy back into his lap. Perhaps it was best his own father had passed away before ever meeting him. "I think mama would be happy here with you Fai. You would make sure papa wouldn't hurt us, right?"

"No. I will never let anyone hurt you Yuui." The little blonde started to sniffle and Fai ran a hand up and down his boney back. "Tell me little one, what price did the Witch ask of your mother?"

"The witch said if mama sent me away I could never return." Well, there went any plans of going to rescue this poor child's mother.

"It's always a high price."

"I'm happy the Witch called you." Yuui yawned loudly and the mage smiled.

"Me too."


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Tsubasa!**

0o0o0

Yuui was terrified that this was dream that he was going to wake up from… that he was going to wake up on that matt on the floor, which he and his twin had shared, alone. That his father was going to hit him and yell at him some more, and he would have to listen to his mother cry.

But when he opened his eyes he was greeted with a warm smile from the Fai of this world. The one who had lost his Yuui when he was little and now lived with the man with the red eyed man who had made him food.

Tears prickled at his eyes.

He had been laying there for the last hour afraid to open his eyes and see dirty walls of his parent's apartment. Relief washed over him and he let out the breath he wasn't aware he been holding.

"Good morning Yuui." Fai chimed and tilted his head to the side. Yuui wished he could have seen his own Fai smile like that… he and his twin had never smiled very much.

Pulling himself up he crawled into the older version of his brother's arms and buried his face in the soft fabric of his cloths. He didn't know what he would have done if this was a dream. This Fai didn't seem to mind the least bit and hugged him tightly—he must miss hugging his Yuui like this.

"Let go eat ok?" Yuui felt so safe as he was lifted and carried though the strange hallways. He could feel Fai's magic all over the house and it made it feel cool and cozy. He probably would have fallen back asleep curled in those warm arms if he hadn't been set onto the floor in front of the table.

Yawning he watched Fai opened a pot that had already been set out on the low wooden table—carefully he ladled a bit of the simple soup into a bowl and handed him a spoon. The little blonde's hands were far less shaky then they had been last night and he was able to slowly eat all on his own. Yuui didn't know when he had made it—as far as he was aware Fai hadn't left his side since they had gone back to bed.

Perhaps it was the man with the red eyes who had been so kind to make this for him.

They sat in silence for a while and listened to the sound of the birds outside. The little blonde really enjoyed his food—it wasn't often that he had eaten anything at home that hadn't come out of a can. Sometimes soup had come out of a can but the vegetables were never as fresh or as delicious as what he was eating now.

"Kuro-sama has left for the day so it's just you and me for now." Fai seemed relaxed as he spoke before sipping something from a mug.

Kuro was the man with the red eyes… he looked scary but had been very nice and made him food last night… the little blonde swallowed the broth in his mouth before clearing his throat.

"Fai?" he heard a soft 'hmm' in response as the taller blonde set his mug down. "Why do you say the last half of his name different every time?"

The last thing Yuui wanted to do was call him by the wrong name… Yuui was always Yuui—Fai was always Fai—so why was it not the same for the man with the red eyes?

"I guess that could be a little confusing huh?" Fai chuckled and looked off towards the door. He looked really happy. "His real name is Kurogane but I give him nicknames."

"Kuro-ge-ne." Yuui said his name slowly. He had never called anyone by a nickname before and he wasn't so sure he was going to start with the man with the red eyes.

"He's going to say you're the good one if you call him by his true name." Fai laughed, his nose wrinkling in amusement.

"Does he not like the nicknames?" Yuui took another sip of the soup. He was starting to get full but it tasted so delicious. He thought that this Fai looked very beautiful when he smiled like that—his Fai would have looked cute as well.

"Hm you would have to ask him." Fai looked from the door back to Yuui. "So how do you feel? Still tired from the trip?"

"I'm not really tired." The little blonde set the spoon down and pushed the bowl away. He had slept comfortably after he and this Fai had come inside form there little walk. He hadn't slept at all when he had stayed at the Miss Yuuko's shop and it was easy to sleep when Fai had hummed that sweet song for him.

"Well I have a few errands to run. Do you want to come with me?" Yuui's eyes got wide. He did not want to be left here all alone. He didn't like to be alone. Nodded quickly, the little twin was happy when Fai reached out to stroke his hair.

"Where will we go?" So far this world was very different from where he had come from. He and his Fai had lived in a big city with lots of people. They had lived in a tall concreate building with many other families.

This Fai's world did not have electricity though—and there was so much grass outside, and large trees as well. Even the cloths of this place were different. This house was large and made out of beautiful wood and as far as he could tell it was only he and his mismatched twin, as well as the man with the red eyes living here.

"We need to go and find some special plants to make medicine for the villagers and stop by the market." Fai stood from the table and offered the tiny twin a hand. Yuui had gone with his mother to the store all the time—he had never made medicine before though. They usually picked that up at the pharmacy.

Fai held his hand as they walked back to the room they had been sleeping in, and sat on the futon and waited patiently while the taller blonde took fresh cloths out of a trunk and dressed.

Fai stood in front of a small mirror and pulled a comb though his hair and tied it in a low ponytail. Once he had finished with his own hair he knelt behind Yuui and did the same for him, though it took considerably longer since his hair was so long.

"When was the last time you had a haircut little one?" The larger twin was fussing with a particular knotted knot but he didn't sound annoyed or angry. Yuui liked that this Fai was just as nice as his own twin had been.

"I don't know." As far as he knew, Yuui's hair had always been long.

"Do you want a haircut? We don't have to take it down too short if you don't want too, but it sure would be easier manage if we cut the dead ends off."

"Ok." Yuui tried not to pull away as the hair at the knap of his neck was tugged. "Whatever you think is easiest." He knew that Fai was doing his best to be gentle. Just as Fai got to another snag at the bottom of his hair they both heard the front door slid open and a voice call out.

"Oi. Mage you're still here right?" Yuui hoped that was the man with the red eyes... but he wasn't sure who he was asking for.

"Back here Kuro-grumpy." He heard Fai reply and the footsteps that came down the hallway were heavy. "Are you ok?" The two blondes turned to look at the man with the red eyes. Yuui hoped he wasn't angry.

"Yeah, I just stopped back here to give you these. One of the guy's son outgrew 'em and they should fit Yuui." The man with the red eyes held out a cloth bag and Fai stood from his spot to go and retrieve it.

"That was awfully sweet of them. Make sure to tell them thanks Kuro-koi." Yuui watched Fai kiss Kurogane's cheek and take the bag from him.

"Already did. You guys heading out too?" the man with the red eyes leaned against the doorway and watched as Fai came back to Yuui's side.

"I used the last of my cerryroot to make that salve for the poor Kotoko's daughters burn so I was going to go see if we could dig some up around here." Fai started brushing the last of the tangles out and Yuui continued to watch Kurogane.

"Try looking in the—"

"—western river beds." Fai cut in and the ninja smirked. "Ne, Kuro-tama?"

"Hm?"

"Yuui needs a haircut." Fai set the comb down and sighed.

Kurogane stepped forward and Yuui leaned back against Fai. "Like a your kind of haircut, or like a my kind of haircut?"

Fai chuckled and Yuui felt the older twin run a hand though is hair. "Like Syaoran's kind of haircut? I don't want his poor ears to get sun burnt." The little blonde wasn't sure what that meant but he would do what Fai thought was best.

"Ok. Hold still kid I don't wanna nic ya." Yuui's heart started to race and he felt the older twin place a hand on each shoulder. The man with the red eyes had been nothing but kind to him—but he was so big and… scary…

"Whaa Kuro-sama don't you think if we braded it to get most of the length of it would be better? You're going to make a mess!"

"Tch. Fine." The man with the red eyes sat down in front of him and Yuui wanted to run and hide behind Fai. The older twin trusted this man though… He just looked so angry. The little blonde could feel Fai brad his hair quickly while Kurogane watched then.

Was he mad? He had to be mad.

"Ne, Yuui? Why don't you stand up?" his brothers voice sounded from behind him and he followed his directions. Fai had him turn so that his back was facing Kurogane and was only slightly less nervous when he felt the man with the red eyes start to cut his hair. "Kuro-cutie is very good at giving little boys haircuts Yuui."

"Thank you Kurogane." Fai smiled at his words and he could hear the man with the red eyes grunt dismissively.

"If I let Fai do it you're gonna look like a fricken girl." Yuui did not understand why the older blonde started to laugh. How could he look like a girl if he was a boy? Fai didn't look like a girl.

"Not true! Boys from my country all wear their hair long." The little blonde could feel his head get lighter as the bulk of his hair was cut and fell to his feet. So Fai wasn't from here ether?

"Do they all wear woman's clothing?" Yuui didn't think Fai's cloths looked particularly feminine but then again, the cloths here were strange. The older blonde smiled even more brightly and laughed again—He liked when Fai smiled and laughed…

"I just wear what Princess Tomoyo made me."

"Yeah yeah. So I've been told." Fai continued to smile while Kurogane cut bits of his hair.

"Fai?" Yuui's voice came out in almost a whisper but the older blonde had heard him. "Is this not your country?" He wasn't sure who Princess Tomoyo was—he cared more about where this Fai had come from.

"Oh—well no. This is my home now though." He watched as that beaming smile melted into a more reserved one and his eyes fell to the floor. "I come from a land where winter never ended."

"What was it like?" The little blonde knew that this place was very very different from where he had grown up—but he wanted to know what Fai's life had been like.

"Well let's see. I lived in the far far north where the magic in the land was thick in the air, at night time on a clear night you could see it dancing in the skies. It was beautiful to live there—and the people were kind."

"Why did you come to live with Kurogane?" Yuui hoped that the people here were kind as well, and he thought all of the grass in the garden was pretty. He had never seen snow before though—so maybe it was even more beautiful than the green grass.

"It's kind of a long story." Fai chuckled—his smile still did not look very happy. Perhaps it was a sad story. "I left to travel though many different worlds and I met Kurogane along the way. I can tell you lots and lots of stories about it, but it will take time."

"Promise?" Yuui didn't have very many stories to tell but he would very much like to hear what Fai's life had been like.

"Promise. Kuro-pu will tell you stories too! We have lots of them right?" Yuui heard the man with the red eyes grunt behind him again. He was starting to get that he didn't speak much…

That was ok though, because Yuui didn't talk much ether. His brother was always the one who spoke for him…

It didn't take much long for Kurogane to finish cutting his hair and he legitimately felt as though a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Cautiously he brought his hands up to touch his now much shorter hair while Fai cooed at him.

The man with the red eyes stood and grabbed the small mirror that hung on the wall and handed it to him. It had been so long since he had seen his own reflection. Yuui hardly recodnized himself…

Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes but he managed to blink them away before handing the mirror back to Kurogane and all but jumping into the larger twin's arms.

He didn't look like his Fai anymore…

"Shit. Did I really do that bad?" the man with the red eyes moved to put the mirror back on the wall—Yuui wanted to correct him… He had done a wonderful job and he honestly felt cooler now that he didn't have such long hair— the little blonde knew if he opened his mouth he would start crying so he stayed silent as he clung to Fai.

"That's not it Kuro-tan." Fai's gently hand smoothed his newly trimmed hair down as he lifted him up. "It's hard the first time isn't it?" The larger twin spoke softly in his ear and ran a cool hand up and down his back. "I cried the first time too."

Yuui's heart fell into his stomach… This worlds Fai understood… He understood. The little blonde tried to hold his breath so that he wouldn't cry—not in front of the man with the red eyes. He could hear his heavy footsteps as Kurogane approached.

He didn't know if the man with the red eyes was mad at him…

"It'll get better." Kurogane's voice was soft as he spoke. "You guys have a good day and I'll see you at dinner ok?

"Sure thing Kergs. Thanks for your help." The man with the red eyes left and Yuui continued to hold his breath until he heard the front door close. Fai set him down on his wobbly feet and the little blonde clung to the soft fabric of his clothing.

Fai didn't seem to mind this and the two walked across the room to where the bag of handmedowns had been set. Soon enough the shirt he had slept in was tugged off and the older blonde helped him into the strange cloths.

They cleaned up the mess left behind after the haircut and Fai gave him a little basket to hold onto as they made their way to the front door. The taller blonde toed on his sandals and lifted Yuui up, carrying him out of the house.

The greenery around the house was even more beautiful during the day time. They walked up the dirt path and Yuui took everything in with wide eyes. Trees, flowers, and tall grass were on either side of them as they walked further and further away from the house.

The air smelled so nice.

The sun was high in the sky and it was uncomfortably hot—but he was happy that Fai was carrying him. It made him feel safe. He didn't know how long it took for them to reach a small town but his eyes were heavy as they walked into one of the strange buildings.

"Good afternoon!" He could hear the smile in Fai voice. Yuui wasn't able to see who his brother was addressing and he tried to curl closer.

"And who do we have here?" upon hearing the unfamiliar female voice Yuui felt tears start to prickle in his eyes again. He didn't like strangers….

"This is my brother Yuui. He's going to be staying with Kurogane and me from now on." The happy-go-lucky tone in the older twin's voice didn't waiver as he attempted to set Yuui down so he could meet the owner of that strange voice. "He's a little shy though."

Yuui reluctantly uncurled his body as his feet made contact with the dirt floor. Fai kneeled down behind him and grabbed both of his hands, resting his chin on the little blonde's shoulder, he used Yuui's hand to waive at the old woman standing not far from them.

She looked ancient—long white hair was loose and falling around her shoulders, and her robes hung off of her as if they were several sizes too big. There was a noticeable bend in her spine as though she was not able to stand up straight. Yuui wasn't as nervous. She wasn't scary at all—if anything she reminded him on the nice older ladies that that had lived upstairs.

"Oh my he looks just like you Fai!" the woman tutted and waived at him, and he felt the older twin chuckle more then he heard it.

Fai stood again and let Yuui wrap his arms around his legs and bury his face in the soft fabric of his yukata. "His arrival was a little un expected so we didn't have time to pack cloths or buy anything yet. What are the chances you have children's sandals for sale in your shop?"

"You're in luck!" The woman grinned at them and waddled back behind the counter. "I got some things in just last night. Try these on those little tootsies." The women bent down and grabbed a pair of tiny wooden sandals and held them out to Fai.

The older twin smiled warmly and carefully pried Yuui's hands off of him before bending down and slipping the shoe on his foot. "Well took at that! It fits! How much do I owe you?" Fai helped him with the other sandal as well.

They were comfortable—like flip-flops but made out of wood and rope.

"Oh don't worry about it. You've been such a help to my granddaughter this is the last I can do." Yuui listened to the woman while Fai again lifted him up.

"How's she doing? The baby should be here by the end of summer right?" cautiously, the little blonde watched the old woman from where Fai had balanced him on his hip. She was old enough to be a great grandma… He had never known his grandma or grate grandma—but he hoped they were as nice as this woman.

"Oh since you made her that tonic she has been able to keep almost anything done. The baby is going to be a big one that's for sure!" She laughed and Fai smiled at her politely.

Yuui thought that it was really amazing that Fai knew how to make medicine.

"Let me know when she is running low and I'll whip some more up ok?"

"Bless your heart Fai!" the woman walked them to the door and stood outside waiving at them while they left. Yuui tried to pay close attention as they made it the rest of the way thought the small village. There were only a handful of shops and a few houses. Some of the people they saw smiled at them—some looked weary.

Yuui wasn't sure why. The man with the red eyes and the old lady at the store had seemed to adore Fai… Maybe they were weary of him?

He hoped he didn't cause his brother any problems…

The made it through the other side of the village, and continued to fallow the dirt path into a thick forest. Yuui very much liked looking at all of the trees and flowers that were growing along the narrow path. He could see birds and small animals as well.

The little blonde felt something strange—a tingle in his stomach. Yuui wasn't sure why he was suddenly nervous but he felt the older twin tense as well. Fai didn't quicken his pace however, even as he tighten his grip on the child in his arms.

"Fai—"

"Hush little one." The taller blonde glanced over his shoulder in the direction of some rustling trees. "I am going to set you down and I want you to walk close to me and carry the basket alright?" Fai's voice was calm as there was another rustle in the bushes, much closer this time.

"But Fa—"

"Nothing to worry about. I'll keep us safe I just need both my hands." The older blonde continued to walk at the same pace. "Ready?"

Yuui was not ready. He had no idea what was hiding in the forest but it was making him feel as though there were butterflies going mad in his stomach. Fai slowly set him on the ground and handed him the basket they had brought with them. They continued walking and the rustling continued behind them as well.

The little blonde nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a loud thump directly behind them and whipped his head around. A terrible looking black creature was only inches away from his face, clawing for him. If it was not for a strange sparking barrier that surrounded both he, as well as the older twin, it no doubt would have torn them to pieces.

"That Yuui—" He felt Fai place two hands on his shoulders and he leaned back against his brother as the monster continued to try and get at them. "Is why you shouldn't wonder about alone." With a quick flick of his wrists the creature let out a terrible squall as it was lifted into the air. Another flick and there was a loud cracking sound before all of the creatures movements stopped.

"Wh—What is—Fai!" the little blonde felt his entire body start to tremble. He had never ever seen anything so scary from his old home. Fai again lifted him and the sparking barrier dissolved before his eyes and they continued on their way as though nothing had happened. The blank monster dissolving into dark mist where it had been left on the path.

"You get used to it I promise." Fai laughed. Yuui didn't know why he was laughing. That thing could have murdered them. "It's the most troublesome part of Kuro-sama's world. The magic of this world breeds them."

Yuui was looking all around the beautiful forest again. What if there were more of them?

"When Kuro-tan was a little boy his mama and papa used to work together to keep them out of Suwa but after they passed away, this land was abandoned when Kuro-cute went to serve at the capital." The little blonde watched how relaxed Fai seemed… He wasn't the least bit scared.

"So those pesky little buggers had years to breed and grow. Kuro-wanwan goes and hunts them down but we still find them around the village sometimes." There was a brake in the trees ahead of them and Yuui was relieved to emerge into a rather large grassy area with a river.

"Ne Yuui?" Fai set his brother down again and took his hand as they made their way towards the small river. "You don't have to be afraid. I might not look it but I can hold my own." Fai kneeled down and smiled at him warmly.

"How did you…" Yuui let his words trail off and look at his feet. He didn't know what to call it, But Fai had done something to stop that terrible monster from being able to touch him.

"Magic. Did you have wizards in your world?" Yuui blinked a couple of times. He had never met one—he had spent most of his time with his brother in the apartment, when they did go out it was only ever to run errands.

"I don't know." Yuui had never seen anyone use magic before—not before he had gone to that strange woman's home and Fai had taken him. He had been so terrified and tired he hadn't asked Fai what those sparking lights he drew with that strange staff were.

"I think you probably did because you have Magic too." Fai tapped his nose with his index finger and beamed.

"H—how do you know?"

"Because I can sense it." Fai smile became sad and Yuui leaned forward to hug his brother. He did not want Fai to be sad… "You and I are like two peas in pod, so you will be able to use magic too."

"Are you sure?" Yuui heard Fai chuckle and felt his hair ruffled.

"Positive." Fai pulled back and stood up, taking the little blondes hand he led them over to the river bed. There were rocks on either side of the river, and what little water did flow was not very deep. "We can teach you how to access and control it as well. It just takes practice." Fai stopped before they reached the clear water however, and set the basket down next to where he kneeled.

Yuui watched his brother carefully start to pull at a plant that was just starting to peek up between two rocks.

"Really?" Yuui sat down on the ground next to his brother. He continued to look around them in case any more monsters decided to come out from the tall grass.

"Mhum. I can teach you lots of things about attack and defense spells, potion and poison making, and stuff that just makes life easier." Yuui watched as the older twin carefully pulled the entirety of the root out of the dried mud and set it in the basket.

Fai could really do all of that?

"So you made the wall that kept the monster away?" Fai started to extract another plant form the muck and he could see his brother smile.

"That was just a simple defense spell. There are many different kinds all with their practical uses." The older blonde set the roots he had pulled up in the basket and looked at Yuui for a moment. "Do you want to help me find some more of these? We want to find the young plants that are just sprouting."

Yuui nodded eagerly.

"We can only get them when the river is low like this. It's called cerryroot and it's very good at reliving pain. When we get home were going to boil it down and make a salve." Fai pulled up a larger plant and showed it to Yuui. "Don't pull the ones like this up—when they get to big they become toxic to humans."

"W—what if I make a mistake?" Yuui didn't want to poison anyone accidently. Fai only smiled and laughed again.

"I'll be able to tell. Just do your best ok?" Yuui walked a few feet away from Fai and looked for more little plants to dig out. He was happy to have something to keep him busy though he still spent a lot of time looking monsters.

Fai didn't seem bothered by the fact that they were surrounded by the tall grass so Yuui listened to the older blondes chatter.

"I learned how to make this salve when I was a little older then you are now." Fai was carefully uprooting another plant and the little blonde was trying to follow his example and slowly pull so as to get as many of the little roots that trailed off in the dried mud. "It was a long time ago so it's hard to remember the why—but I was in the apothecary and something smelled so terribly awful I just had to find out what it was."

Fai carefully separated the clumps of dirt from the thin white roots and settled them into the basket with the others.

"The priestesses and healing mages had been surprised by my interest but they let me watch them without complaint. Within a week, between my lessons I was trying to make my own salves and droughts." Yuui noticed that Fai wasn't smiling any longer but he didn't seem upset ether. His eyes were half lidded as he spoke fondly—His Fai never looked like that.

"I got caught when I lit my bedroom on fire." Fai looked up and grinned at him.

"You caught your house on fire?" Yuui was blinking at the older twin's mischievous smile… His father would have been sooooo mad. "Did you get in trouble?"

"No." Fai chuckled and pulled another root free from the ground. "Ashura-ou thought it was funny actually. I suppose he would have felt different if anyone had been hurt—other than the furniture there was no harm done."

"Was Ashura-ou your dad?" Yuui felt Fai get very sad suddenly. His smiled was still on his face but his eyes looked pained. "S—sorry! I didn't mean too—"

"You don't have to be sorry Yuui." Fai dropt the root he was holding in the basket and started picking the next. The last thing he wanted to do was make him sad… "He was the closest thing to a dad I ever had."

"You said last night that he was very kind… I'm sorry he got sick." Yuui tugged up one of the plants and frowned. He was not very good at not braking the delicate roots.

"You don't have to be sorry silly." Fai was watching him carefully, he had much more practice at this and didn't need to pay much attention to what he was doing.

"You're hurting though." Yuui didn't like the look of surprise on Fai's features. Surely he knew that Yuui could tell when he was distressed? Hadn't this Fai's Yuui known as well? "I'm sorry you're sad…"

"You're too sweet for your own good." Yuui felt Fai's sadness melt away at his words. He was glad he could help even if it was just a little.

"You're just the same you know." The little blonde watched Fai's hands freeze at his words before they started pulling up another of the roots and dusting the clumps of dirt away.

"Maybe. I've done some not so sweet things in my life though." A silence feel between them and Yuui was ok with that. He figured Fai was thinking—maybe about him—maybe about the past. It didn't really matter.

0o0o0

Kurogane was only slightly annoyed that he had to be away from Fai today… His poor mage hadn't slept a wink and though the ninja knew that Fai was already attached at the hip to the kid who shared his twin's soul, it was hard on him.

The people in the village had gotten there first peek at the pair and the men who accompanied him when he hunted the demons had asked a lot of questions. The village appreciated Fai—He had done a lot for them.

But they did not completely trust the mage. He still had the vampire's blood and his magic was foreign—the demons that hid in the forests were attracted to Fai for those reasons. For some reason they thought it bad luck—the little kid wasn't a vampire but his magic was just as foreign and that would make them weary of him as well.

The questions the men had asked had been mostly about how the hell the kid had gotten here—why did he look like he had seen better days—and was he staying.

He was staying alright.

Kurogane was annoyed enough that people gave Fai such a hard time. He wasn't going to let them do it to a little kid and his men accepted it. They would go home and tell their wives not to worry, and hopefully that would be the end of it.

Maybe after Yuui was feeling better he could play and train with the kids from the small village and surrounding farms. If all else failed, Yuui and Fai would keep each other company.

Kurogane was bringing up the rear of their small hunting party and was scanning their surroundings with a trained eye. The ninja was distracted today… He didn't usually worry like this about Fai. The idiot could handle himself.

In battle at least. The moron bottled up his emotions up until he cracked so Kurogane knew his worry was not misplaced.

Fai at least had planned on keeping busy today—gathering those roots was a tedious and time consuming task. For some reason his mage enjoyed doing it. There group approached the river and followed the rocky edge back towards the village and he was ready to get back to his lover and make sure he was alright.

As they continued there slow trek back, Kurogane wasn't surprised to see Fai sitting with his feet in the cool water of the half dried up river, rising the roots he had gathered while he lounged. Yuui was sitting in the blondes lap and didn't look up as their horses approached.

When he was a good 20 feet away he motioned for his companions to keep going while he dismounted his horse and walked slowly to Fai's side. The kid was sleeping in his lap.

It was for the best, because even though they were grown men they gawked at the kid like he was some kind of alien.

Wordlessly Kurogane sat down next to Fai on the rocky edge of the river—his mage was like a cat—comfortable anywhere.

"Long day Kuro-koi?" Fai's voice was soft and he didn't look up from what he was doing.

"Yeah." His mage wasn't smiling—since they had settled in this world he almost never wore his mask around the ninja, but since Yuui had arrived last night it had been glued in place. "You tired yet? You wore the little one out."

"Children his age nap in the afternoon." The blonde pointed out as he continued to rinse the last of his roots in the icy water.

"And you haven't slept in two days." Kurogane wasn't going to let him change the subject but kept his voice low. Yuui was timid around him enough without him waking up to Kurogane yelling at his brother.

"Nope. Sure haven't." Fai chimed sardonically and smirked at the ninja.

"You can't just not sleep you know." They had been though his many times before—when Fai was stressed out he couldn't sleep. Nightmares were a nightly occurrence that they had both accepted—but when it got really bad?

The idiot just couldn't fall asleep. Fai had explained it to him before—his heart would race as though he was running and he couldn't settle no matter how heavy his eyes were. When he got like this Fai refused to take anything to help him sleep.

Kurogane had never been trapped in a nightmare—then again the ninja didn't remember the last time he had had a nightmare.

"It's not like I'm not tired." Fai finished with the last of the cleaning and signed, wrapping both of his arms around the boy in his lap, resting his cheek on the top of that blonde mop.

"Let's go home then." Fai smiled at him and allowed Kurogane to help him to his feet. The horse was led behind them as they walked back to the Suwa estate. Yuui was like a limp doll in his arms, obviously exhausted from helping the older blonde gather herbs and roots.

They didn't talk as they made their way through the town—didn't pay the towns folk any mind as they tiredly passed though. They watched Fai as they always did, but now they also watched the little bundle of bones in his arms as well.

Kurogane was going to do everything he could to make sure his mage and this kid were accepted. It might take a year or two—but it would happen he was sure.

They made the final stretch to the house and Kurogane and Fai parted ways. The ninja went to put the horse out with the others for the night, and Fai went into the house with Yuui still sleeping in his arms. When he finally got inside he left his shoes at the door and went to the kitchen to find Fai still holding Yuui while he started getting things around for dinner.

The kid was small sure, but too big for this to be practical. If Fai wanted to coddle his mismatched twin, he wasn't gonna complain. Kurogane had a feeling they were glued to each other was as much for his mages comfort as it was for Yuui's.

Silently he went about polishing his sword as Fai cooked. This had been there nightly routine for months now and the normalcy was nice after the crazy night. Fai eventually sat down next to him and smiled at him while sipping tea—Yuui still napping limply in his arms.

It didn't last long—as the aroma of the food wafted about the table the little blonde stirred. Kurogane watched big sleepy eyes blink in confusion before Yuui seemed to realize were he was.

No one could say the kid wasn't cute.

Upon realizing where he was he just snuggled his head against Fai's chest and closed his eyes again. "I fell asleep?"

"You sure did. Are you hungry Yuui?" Kurogane smiled at the look in Fai's blue eyes as he watched the little boy.

This was hard on Fai but Kurogane had a feeling this was what both those idiots needed.

"Just a little bit." The child confirmed and opened his eyes again to look around the room. He watched Kurogane carefully and the ninja nodded at him in acknowledgement before returning to polishing his sword.

Yuui was still timid but as long as Fai was holding him we didn't seem to terrified. The ninja was more concerned with the older twin at the moment—Kids bounced. Crazy adult mages from Celese didn't adapt well to change.

Fai had a soft smiled adorning his face, and he was sitting at the table with his eyes closes. He was tired, and his brain wasn't going to let him sleep.

Kurogane knew from experience.

When the ninja heard the pot on the stove to boil to fiercely he watched Fai for a moment. Fai lifted the tiny blonde again and settled him on the cushion while he went back to the stove. Kurogane didn't mind helping prepare meals—Fai was just a hell of a lot better at it then he was.

Both Kurogane and Yuui were watching Fai as he stirred the stew and added a few spices before putting the lid back on.

Kurogane noticed that he wasn't the only one who was worried—Yuui seemed concerned as Fai yawned loudly and patted back to the table and sat across from the ninja. He knew why once he locked eyes with his mage.

"Fai!" Yuui crawled over to the older twin. "Your eyes!"

Two gold eyes blinked in confusion before looking up at the ninja.

"There gold." Kurogane offered. Though Fai had gotten his eye back from the clone of the kid, he had paid the witch with the other half of his magic, and so the vampire blood stuck with him.

"Oh." Fai blinked a few more times as though that may fix the problem. "No worries Yuui. It happens sometimes when I'm tired or hungry."

"You're not dying?"

Fai shook his head slowly. "Nope. Completely natural. Right Kuro-sama?"

"Yeah. He's fine." Kurogane watched the little twin scrutinize Fai, obviously not trusting there reassurances. He would be fine once he drank—but they would do that once the kid was asleep.

"You just have to eat and take a nap?" Kurogane was pretty impressed that Yuui, as a boy no older than 5 or 6, was able to sound like he was a mother asking a toddler if they needed to go lay down. Fai didn't miss it ether, and pulled the boy into a tight hug and laughed.

They were all tired, and dinner was eaten quickly. Yuui made sure Fai ate every bite and Kurogane was amused as he watched the two of them. The little child was thrown in the bath and tucked into bed and Kurogane listened to Fai hum until Yuui was asleep.

Not surprisingly, once the kid was resting Fai came back out to the dining room to sit with Kurogane. Sit perhaps wasn't the best word to use—Fai crawled into his lap and curled as close to his body as he was able too.

He could feel the blonde's breath puffing against his neck and Kurogane tangled a rough hand in those blonde locks to encourage him close, his mechanical arm securing tightly around Fai's waist.

"Is it a dream Kuro-sama?" His mage trembled as those words were whispered as though he may wake himself form said dread.

Kurogane knew this was going to come eventually. Poor Fai.

"Nah. He's really here." The ninja was acutely aware of the way his mage was trying to stay composed while he clung onto his lover desperately.

"I never thought…" The blonde took in a long shaky breath and swallowed. "I just didn't think I would ever be so… Blessed."

Kurogane signed.

In his mind Fai deserved the entire world—had had been treated unfairly all of his life. By that Reed bastard, by that king Ashura fuck wad, and by that bitch of dimensions. They had all used Fai for their own purposes and karma owed him one.

"All my life, since I lost my brother…" Another long shaky breath and a few more swallows. "I've dreamed of having my him back. Of holding him… and—Kuro-sama he really truly is here?"

"Yeah." The blonde trembling worsened and Kurogane turned to press a kiss to his cheek.

"What if I mess him up?" The pure terror in Fai's voice was gut wrenching. Didn't he see he was a blessing himself? Yuui was fucking lucky to have this moron.

"You won't." the first cry sounded and Kurogane just ran his fingers though Fai's hair.

Who was he trying to be strong for?

"I don't deserve him… I—I don't…" The ninja didn't need to see Fai's face to know what he looked like. Tears always left his sky-blue eyes glowing. Fai was biting his bottom lip in an attempt to remain quiet, and his pail face was flushing red.

There was nothing he could say to make Fai feel better. This was a big adjustment—this was going to bring up raw memories and the idiot needed to process them. Kurogane did the only thing he knew that he could and cradled Fai.

"H—he makes me so happy Kuro-sama… but he's too much like Yuui." During their travels though dimensions, other than a single encounter with Chii—Fai didn't run into people from his home world. The ninja could sympathize with his feelings.

"Fai." Kurogane kissed the side of his face again while his mage struggled for a few deep breaths. He eventually got a pitiful 'hmm' in response. "He lost his Fai, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, what happened to him?" Fai snuffed loudly and leaned back to lock eyes with Kurogane. The ninja had been right about what he would look like, cheeks were dusted pink and his eyes were rimmed in red, yet especially vibrant. They were gold though…

"He said that his father had hurt his Fai…" Kurogane untangled his hand from his mages hair, and roughly wiped at some of the tears with his thumb.

"Was your dad that big of an ass hat too?" he felt suddenly annoyed to know that yet another shitty person had been in his Fai's life.

"He died before I was born so I don't know what he even looked like. He said his mother sent him to Yuuko—she paid with her ability to ever get him back."

"Ether way—you had no control over your Yuui's death no matter what you tell yourself. What would have stopped that kid's dad from picking him over Fai? Sometimes shit just happens." Kurogane leaned forward and kissed his mages forehead.

The blonde was looking down—thinking no doubt.

Overthinking.

"If he makes you happy and you obviously make him happy then shut the fuck up and just accept that this is what it is." A dark chuckle escaped Fai's lips as he shook his head slowly.

"Kuro-myuu is so mean."

"Yeah well I wouldn't have to be mean if you weren't such a moron. Talk if you gotta talk—cry if you gotta cry—but pull your head out of your ass." The ninja ruffled his mages hair coarsely and smirked at the mock look of offenses on Fai's face.

Fai scrubbed the rest of the tears from his face and reluctantly stood. "I'm going to go check on Yuui and make sure my little fit didn't bother him. You want to get the bath ready for us?"

"Why would you bother him?" Kurogane stood as well and followed Fai back down the hallway towards there room. He was careful to keep his voice low as to not wake the kid.

"Magic calls to magic and his very in tuned when it comes to the way my magic fluctuates with my mood." Fai paused just outside of the bedroom door and slid it open just the tiniest bit. Kurogane could see that the mage had left one of the candles burning to leave light for the child should he wake.

They both saw that Yuui was still asleep on one of the futons, and Kurogane sees that he was just as annoying as Fai in bed. No doubt the mage had left him tucked in neatly—the kid was now turned diagonal, the blankets kicked off and his limbs sprawled.

The door was again closed and the two of them slipped into the bathroom and closed that door as well before they dared to speak again. "So, what? He can tell when your sad or mad?"

Kurogane grabbed a few towels from a cabinet while Fai heated the water with a quick spell. Steam started to rise from the water and the ninja appreciated his mages magic. He could do some pretty cool shit.

"Yeah—or happy or excited. You learn to tune that stuff out but he can't filter out magical noise like that." Fai sounded as if actually being able to sense someone's emotions was the most natural thing in the world.

"So, you can do that with other people?"

"The stronger the magic the easier it is to feel its fluctuations without trying. There are spells I can use to mask it from him but it would probably make him panic." To Kurogane's annoyance Fai dumped some of the scented bath saults he liked so much into the water.

Ninja's shouldn't smell like fucking sweet pea.

"Seems like he should lean to do it sooner or later." Once they had both washed up and rinsed off, they slipped in the pleasantly warmed, sweet smelling water and relaxed.

"He will but not now. It was a shock the first time I realized what it was like not being able to feel my brothers magic… Even after Ashura-ou died. It's like being put into a quiet room with no noise—or shut out in the cold with no warning."

Kurogane hummed a response and relaxed back in the water, watching Fai with one eye. Kurogane hadn't noticed until they had gotten to Suwa—Fai loved water. If that be because he had come from a world of snow or ice, or he simply enjoyed the relief a soothing bath brought at the end of the day it didn't matter.

Fai would come up with an excuse to take a bath or go swimming—even when the water was frigid.

Normally his mage would be half asleep by the time they decided to get out, but even the warm water and bath saults weren't doing anything to relax him tonight. Though his eyes were closed, the ninja could practically see the gears turning in the idiot's head.

"He's going to start worrying if you don't sleep. If your magic really gives you away when you're in distress you might as well—"

"I'm not in distress and I can't help it Kuro-sama." Fai just barely opened his eyes to shoot Kurogane an annoyed look. It lost its effect—he loved it when his mage looked at him though damp lashes. Be it that his eyes were gold or blue—it was breath taking.

"You're really gonna deny it?" Kurogane smirked when Fai splashed him. He was not about to wrestle the idiot mage in the bathtub with a little kid sleeping across the hall.

"Yuui will never ever be the cause of my distress Kergerburger." The tone in Fai's voice caused realization hit Kurogane like a truck and he quit smirking.

Fuck.

"I didn't mean it like that. If I ran into another version of my parents? It would be one hell of a mind fuck." Kurogane wanted to reach out and pull Fai closer but the blonde was already sliding out of the tub, wrapping a towel around his waist he leaned against the sink while he brushed out his hair.

There was a long silence that fell between them and just as Kurogane was going to get out and cradle his mage in apology—He knew he wasn't good at words and Fai always responded to his actions— Fai spoke again.

"I have to keep telling myself that this isn't my Yuui… that would break my Yuui's heart to hear that he was the cause of anyone's distress let alone mine. Our little Yuui here has his own baggage to deal with too and I'm sure if he ever got the slightest him he was upsetting me in any way it would devastate him."

Kurogane had seen Fai's memories in Celese—the blonde moron felt the same way if he caused anyone any trouble. Slowly he got out of the water and reached out for the blonde. This was going to be a process. There were going to be mistakes on all their parts but Kurogane was confident that they would learn to live in harmony.

0o0o0

 **Please let me know what you all think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know I know- I took to long to update!**

 **Because its been mentioned to me a few times- For simplicity sake I swapped Fai and Yuui's names. So the real Fai is now Yuui and the twin that used to be Yuui has now always been Fai.**

 **I do not own Tsubasa!**

0o0o0

Yes, Kurogane was a ninja.

Yes, he was an extremely light sleeper.

Yes, sometimes Fai snuck up on him when he was sleeping.

Kurogane's red eyes blinked open to see that Fai had managed to contort around during the night and was now sleeping sideways on the bed. His head was resting on the futon that had been set up next to their own, and his legs were draped over the ninja's waist.

Somehow, he had managed this without waking the ninja up once last night.

As if that wasn't bad enough… Yuui had also crawled into their bed and was sprawled in a similar manner— One foot right in the ninja's face, another where Fai's pillow should have been, and the little blond mop was snuggled into his mage's stomach.

Kurogane was right where he had been when he had fallen asleep, on his side facing where Fai had been, mechanical arm tucked up under the pillow, the other arm resting in front of his body.

How the fuck had they managed to jumble up like this without so much as stirring him from sleep?

Bruised ego aside, Kurogane was relieved to hear the peaceful sound of his idiot breathing. At least he was sleeping. It was a rare thing for his mage to sleep longer than him, so he would have to be extra careful not to wake him.

Kurogane was a ninja. Fai was a vampiric mage and was ultra-attuned to everything that his pray did. But Kurogane was a ninja dammit. He could do this.

Taking a deep breath, he shifted his arm slowl—

"Kuro-sleepy is so tense." Fai's voice caught him by surprise and the taller man growled in irritation.

"Go back to bed."

"How can I sleep when Kuro-tan is so uncomfortable to sleep on?" Kurogane felt Fai wiggle his legs for emphasis and was seriously considering making a few death threats.

"How long have you been awake?" He sat up to see two pairs of cerulean eyes watching him. He had managed to wake both of them up.

Perfect.

"Not long, right Yuui?" Fai smirked at him with amusement. Kurogane was happy to see that the dark circles under his mage's eyes were nearly gone.

"Nope, not long." They tiny blond yawned before sitting up as well, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Wizards..." Kurogane pushed his mage's legs off of him and got to his feet. "Fucking wizards."

"Whaa! Hear how mean Kuro-cranky is, Yuui?" Fai cooed at his brother, dramatically rolling onto his stomach. Kurogane only shook his head at the deer in headlights look Yuui gave at his adult brother's tantrum.

"Stop being so dramatic." This ninja reached for his armor and began to get dressed. Fai continued to roll around theatrically and eventually earned a smile from Yuui. "What's for breakfast?"

Fai paused in his flailing and sat up—wiping at what he could only assume were fake tears. "Kuro-kuro said I could go back to bed! Now he wants breakfast?"

The mock hurt in his voice earned another smile from the squirt and Kurogane almost smiled at the act as well. Almost.

"Tch. Do what you want. I'll just fry up some fish and ri—"

"The house will smell like fish for the rest of the day if you do that! Kergs is so so mean! Come on Yuui, let's make something fast before he starts!" Fai all but jumped out of the bed and flounced out of the room. Yuui blinked a few times before slowly climbing to his feet and following his brother.

Kurogane smirked at the sound of the kid's feet pitter-patting down the hallway as he tried to keep up with his flamboyant, mismatched twin. Having him here wasn't bad at all—no, Yuui was probably what there fucked up little family needed now that Syaoran and Sakura were gone.

They had come a long way in the short time the pipsqueak had first arrived. Other than the fact that he had put on a healthy amount of weight and his skin was no longer translucent—Yuui was acting more like a kid his age aught to.

He didn't romp and play like the other village boys his age did—but he didn't sleep all day anymore or cry every time Fai left the room ether.

Baby steps were still progress.

Kurogane could hear Fai happily chattering away to his twin as he continued getting dressed. By the time he had made it to the kitchen, Fai had already set a kettle out to boil and was in the process of whipping up a meal of bacon and eggs.

This was one of the many dishes Fai had learned how to make during their travels—one of the few that Kurogane really enjoyed eating. The idiot mage could survive on nothing but sugar and bread, but Kurogane needed something with more protein to get through the day.

Yuui was sitting on the counter a safe distance from the stove, watching his brother with wide eyes. The ninja took up his usual spot at the table and watched the brothers. Both were still wearing there night cloths and sporting bedhead.

Their new morning routine had been easier to adjust to then any of them could have guessed. Yuui fit right in—wherever Fai went, Yuui followed. He was as low-maintenance as a kid could be. Quiet, clean, and eager to help.

He did chores without being asked and knew when to stay out of the way. The near nightly screaming nightmares had taken some getting used to, but even those were dying down now.

Sure, alone time with his lover was lacking since the squirt was pretty much attached to his apron strings 99% of the time. They had never been a particularly frisky couple though and were used to sneaking around kids from their journey with Syaoran and Sakura anyway, so it wasn't the biggest deal.

The most important thing was that both the blond idiots were happy. Kurogane knew that having Yuui around brought a special kind of closure to Fai, and he was so fucking grateful for the twerp. Emotional trauma had been quickly put aside by the both of them, and they had bonded on a level Kurogane honestly didn't think Fai was capable of.

"Fai, how do you know when they're done?" Yuui was leaning as close to the popping pan as his mismatched twin would allow, watching the food sizzle with curiosity. His job when it came to cooking was to watch and learn while Fai did the important things.

Pretty boring if you were to ask the ninja, but Yuui took his duty seriously, shown as Fai was preparing the tea.

"It doesn't smell ready yet." Fai peeked over his shoulder to make sure that Yuui was still at a safe distance, before turning his attention back to the tea.

"What does it smell like when it's done?'"

"You can find out when it's cooked, silly." Fai turned around fully this time to poke Yuui's nose with his index finger before carrying the tray of freshly brewed green tea over to the table. "It will be extra yummy if we pull it off when it's perfectly cooked, so be patient."

"You can really tell just by how it smells?" Yuui squinted his eyes in concentration and Kurogane shook his head.

"Yes. Remember how we made the sweet bread the other day?" Yuui nodded and Fai started to swap the now-cooked bacon out of the pan and throw a few fresh pieces in. "Remember how the whole house started to smell like cooked sugar right before we pulled it out?"

"But the bacon won't smell like sugar, Fai."

"No." Fai chuckled and cracked a few eggs in the pan to cook alongside the bacon. "Each food has its own special smell when it's ready. You can also use color, texture, or temperature to tell if something is cooked."

Yuui nodded and Fai held the dish with the cooked strips of meat up to him. "Smell this—perfectly cooked."

"You really think I'll be able to do it too one day?" Yuui pouted and hopped down off the counter so Fai would have enough room to finish cooking their breakfast. He thumped unceremoniously down next to Kurogane to wait patiently.

"Of course. Remember, I've been doing this for years, Yuu. It just takes practice." The little blond nodded, accepted the cup of tea the ninja poured of him, and went back to quietly watching his brother work.

Fai had an incessant need to fill any and all silences. Kurogane was used to it by now, and Yuui evidently was too. Maybe all the Fais out there were as obnoxious as his mage. The ninja sipped his tea, and both he and the blond twerp watched Fai finish preparing their meal while he chattered away about this and that.

Fai finally shut up when he started eating his breakfast, managing more than he usually would. Every time he set down his fork, Yuui would give him a look. The idiot would take a few more bites and they would repeat.

Lately, Fai had been eating and drinking more regularly, thanks to Yuui.

He had been trying to boss Fai around to take better care of himself for _years_. Yuui did it with a fucking _look_.

How was that fair?

When they had finished the last of their food, Yuui and Kurogane did the dishes together while Fai got dressed for the day. The kid wasn't anywhere near as talkative as his brother, and they enjoyed a comfortable silence while they worked. The ninja would wash, the kid would dry.

They finished up just as Fai walked back into the dining room to beam at them. "Ne, Kuro-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Are you going to be in the practice fields today?" Kurogane looked the blond up and down and noticed that for the first time since they had landed in Nihon, Fai was wearing his robes from Celese.

"No." He was going to head out and see if he could hunt down the demon that had attacked one of the farms on the other side of the mountain. "I've got hunting to do. Why?"

"I wanted to start Yuui on a new magic lesson, but we need to do it outside." There was a twinkle in the blond's eyes that almost certainly meant that there was mischief afoot.

Kurogane was almost sad to miss it.

Almost.

From what he had seen of the magic lessons so far, they were like watching paint dry. When Fai used magic, he could do some pretty amazing things, like blowing shit up and ripping the fabric that separated the worlds to allow them to travel to see the kids.

So far, he and Yuui had only been working on mediation, breathing, and drawing. Why drawing? He didn't know. He never stuck around long enough to figure it the heck out because it was mind numbing to watch the squirt draw the same squiggle over and over and over.

"You gonna blow shit up then?" Kurogane didn't miss how Yuui jumped to attention at the thought of actually getting to use magic instead of just learning the theory of it.

"We're going to blow thing up!?"

"Well," Fai chuckled and with a twirl of his wrist summoned his staff to his hand while simultaneously placing a hand on the top of his little twin's head. "We're actually going to try to _not_ blow things up."

"But I get to actually use magic? No more book work?" Kurogane smirked at the kid's excitement. He wondered if Fai had complained to his teachers about learning the basics as well.

As a kid Yuui's age? He would have whined until he was blue in the face.

"Yes. Now go get dressed. I laid out your clothes on your bed for you." Both he and the mage watched as Yuui ran down the hall to their room without another word.

It was good to see him getting excited.

"So, you plan on him blowing that shit up then?" Kurogane used the small moment alone to pull Fai into his arms and breathe in the scent of his hair.

"Oh yeah." Fai chuckled and leaned into the ninja. He seemed just as excited as the munchkin about this lesson.

"Can't you start with something a little less explosive?"

"There is no such thing. But we're starting with the kind of spell that is really hard to blow up. A simple shield will be useful once he decides he wants to wander, and they're pretty easy to pull off once you have your timing down." Kurogane shook his head.

"You're gonna let that little innocent kid wonder around Suwa alone?" The ninja couldn't imagine it… Yuui was too skittish to go out to the practice field when the other kids were there for their lessons.

What the hell was he gonna do when he ran into a stranger on the road? Or ran into a demon that wanted to eat him?

"It's a wizard thing. Were curious and stir-crazy by nature—Especially in our adolescents." Fai laughed lightly. "Anyways—Ashura-ou was as overprotective as a parent could get and he let me do it so where is the harm really?"

"He could get eaten by a demon or kidnapped by a pervert?" Kurogane could think of even worse things then that. There was a heck of a lot that could happen to a kid who didn't know what to look out for—especially if he wondered into less stable lands then Suwa.

"Well demon or pervert—He has enough magic to make a shield to at least keep him safe till we can get there." Fai laughed again—seemingly non-concerned. "He's way more responsible than I was anyways."

"Yeah?" Kurogane kissed the top of Fai's head. He didn't like the thought of Fai wondering around all alone in a strange place anymore then the thought of the kid doing the same thing.

"Yeah. He has a healthy sense of his limitations. I've always been a reckless idiot!" This time it was Kurogane's turn to laugh.

"Fucking mages…"

"Hey now! That's not very nice Kuro-koi." Before the ninja had a chance to answer, Yuui ran back into the living room and zipped right past them to put on his shoes.

"Can't you show him that whistling shit you do? Can he really blow that up?" Kurogane changed the subject so they didn't give him any ideas to go adventuring any time soon.

The ninja reluctantly let go of Fai and joined the squirt at the door, sliding his own shoes on so he could head out. There was still work to do.

"Not any time soon. You need years of music lessons and magic theory training to even start to control magic with sound." Fai mused while he too went to the door.

"You can control magic with sound?" Yuui was shifting his weight from foot to foot as Fai slowly started to lace up his boots.

"Yes. It's an old Celesian art that I can teach you one day." Granted—Kurogane had only seen Fai do it a handful of times. Always while whistling.

"Is it not like normal magic then? Can you cast spells with it?" The child's enthusiasm dimmed only slightly at being told what he wanted to learn was far too advanced for him.

"In a way. We don't use the term casting spells—we take internal, or natural external energy and change its form for a specific outcome. Magic is temperamental when you transform it into sound. It's much harder to weave. It can affect anyone who hears it, even the wizard who is weaving the spell."

"That sounds scary. Why would anyone want to do it if they could hurt themselves?"

"I had to learn it because it was an important part of the culture in the country I grew up in. We're going to have our hands full for a while with much more interesting things anyway." Fai finished tying his laces and stood to ruffle the squirt's hair.

"What does it do though?" Yuui walked carefully outside and waited patiently for Fai to join him.

"Mostly its used for illusion magic which is pretty harmless. It can be used to attack and defense spells as well though once you're advanced enough in your training."

Kurogane followed them out of the house. He had learned more about what it had been like to grow up in Celese since that kid got here then the decade or so he had traveled though dimensions with Fai. As much as he liked to listen to Fai tell stories, he had a demon to take care of.

After a ruffle to Yuui's hair and a quick peck on Fai's forehead, he was of into town. He didn't get very far before he heard the first ground shaking explosion.

Wizards...

Kurogane assured the people in the village that they didn't have anything to worry about and to ignore the noise. He didn't have much trouble finding the demon responsible for the attack—any time Fai used magic it riled them up. Riled them up enough that he had his hands full well into the evening. It was past sunset when he finally made it back.

Kurogane had been expecting to find Yuui tucked into bed and his mage waiting up from him like every other night he was out late.

Instead he found Yuui sitting at the table with no sign of the older twin at all.

"Welcome home, Kurogane." Yuui never smiled when Fai was not around, but his eyes were kind as he watched Kurogane shrug off his blood-soaked cloak and set in the basket next to the door after removing his shoes. "Did you beat up the monster?"

"Yeah. Where's the mage?"

"Sleeping." Yuui turned his attention back to the paper in front of him. He was practicing drawing his squiggles again.

"That's a first. Tucker him out with your training?" Though Yuui was fitting in to Suwa nicely, the idiots sleeping habits had only gotten worse.

"Yeah."

"And you're not tired?" Kurogane sat down across from Yuui at the table and watched as he slowly redrew the same set of squiggly lines over and over. Fai called them "Runes". They were apparently part of his word's written language.

"I was, but Fai's dreams woke me up." Kurogane raised a brow at this, but the squirt continued to scribble away as though that was the most normal thing in the entire world.

"So...he's having a nightmare?" Fai could tell when Yuui was having a bad dream—said he could feel it in his magic.

Maybe it was a two way street then?

"I don't think so. It's just very loud."

"Loud?" Kurogane decided that wizard kids were much stranger then their adult counterparts. How can you hear someone else's dream?

"Mhm."

Right. Ok then. Fai was dreaming too loud for the kid to sleep. That made perfect freaking sense.

"Kurogane?" Yuui set his pencil down but continued to stare at the page in front of him.

"Hmm?"

"Fai is sad. I don't want to wake him up because I know he is really tired, but I don't want him to be sad." Two misty blue eyes looked up at him with an expression that showed wisdom beyond his meager years.

"Is that what you mean when you say his dreams are loud?" A little nod and Kurogane cursed under his breath. "Everyone gets sad, Yuui. It's part of being human."

"What do you think he is dreaming about to make him so sad?" Yuui sniffled.

How the hell was he supposed to know?

The kid was obviously pretty upset that Fai apparently had loud, sad dreams, and he knew if Yuui got to upset, Fai would wake up. Then the squirt would feel bad.

Fuck.

"I—Is it my fault?"

"Shit, kid...is that what you've been out here worrying about?" Kurogane got a sad little nod and he felt his heart break. Yuui was just as much of an idiot as Fai was—no matter what his mage claimed. "Well, you're wrong. You make Fai happy. He's just remembering stuff, that's all."

"Like what?"

"I don't know...probably about his life before I met him." Yuui went back to copying the runes again, but he could tell the kid was still unsettled.

0o0o0

Fai hadn't meant to fall asleep, and he certainly hadn't meant to sleep the rest of the day away. When he had first woken, he was only been slightly panicked to find Yuui no longer at his side. It only took a moment for him to sense both his little twin, as well as Kurogane in the kitchen.

He allowed himself the leisure of lounging once he knew his little family was all safe and sound at home. He most likely would have fallen back asleep, were it not for the fact that Kurogane and Yuui were practically incapable of feeding themselves, and they did not have any leftovers to reheat.

While he could have used a few more hours, Fai was feeling better rested now than at any point in the last month. Slowly standing up, he shuffled out to see a sight that melted his heart.

Yuui was curled up in Kurogane's lap listening to the ninja read from one of the manga he had collected on their journey. Pausing just outside of the room, he watched as big, scary Kurogane pointed at the picture that went with the text he was currently reading—and wasn't that just the most precious thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

"I am going to be the strongest ninja of them all," Kurogane turned the page and pointed to where he was starting to read. "And then I'll save the princess, even if it's the last thing I'll ever do."

"Does he do it? Does he save the princess?" Yuui was looking over the art on the page with sleepy eyes.

"Tch. You're worse than your brother. I can't just tell you the ending. What's the point of reading the story if you know what's going to happen?"

"Kuro-sama is always such a stickler for rules." Fai chuckled, drawing the pair's attention to himself. "He won't tell me how it ends either."

"You can read most of the Kanji in them now, so why don't you read it and find out?" Yuui shot to his feet and jumped into Fai's arms.

"You already know the answer to that." Fai kissed his brother's forehead and gave him a tight squeeze before setting him back down. "I didn't mean to sleep the whole day away. Why didn't you guys wake me up?"

"You're a bad sleeper. I wanted you to rest." Fai frowned at the little blond's words. The mage made sure to always lay down whenever Yuui did, so as not to worry him. Apparently, he knew all about his recent issues with insomnia.

Oh, Yuui.

"Well, I appreciate it. Aren't you guys hungry?" Fai changed the subject before Yuui could press the issue any further.

"What are we going to make?" the little blond seemed suddenly excited at the thought of getting to help cook, previous worries forgotten for now.

Fai chose something extremely simple so Yuui could do most of the work, and they ate quietly before he sent his little twin off to bed with a bedtime store and plenty of snuggles. When he felt his magic calm into the familiar patterns of sleep, he went back out to see Kurogane.

The ninja had something he wanted to talk to Fai about—he could tell from the looks he had gotten all through dinner time.

It wasn't a big surprise that his lover had gone out to the training field to see what may or may not have accidentally caught on fire during Yuui's lessons. Fai thought he had done a pretty decent job of catching the flare-ups before they caused any real damage, but they were down a couple of rose bushes.

"What did you guys do? It looks like you had a full on war." The amusement was thick in the ninja's voice and Fai found himself grinning.

"It was a good workout."

"Made you tired enough to take a nap. I've never seen you get so warn out from using your magic in the past." Kurogane stood from where he had been examining a scorch mark on the ground and walked back towards the house.

He had set some of the wine the children had sent from Clow country out for them to enjoy, along with the last of the honey cakes Fai and Yuui had made the other day. Fai wondered briefly why his Kuro-puppy was being so sweet.

It wasn't like he was never romantic—just not usually like this.

"It's a lot harder to contain an explosion then it is to create one." Fai sat on the edge of the porch overlooking the training grounds and leaned against Kurogane.

"Still, I came home, and he was just sitting at the table practicing those magic letters, and said you were sleeping." Kurogane swung his arm around the mages shoulder and sipped his wine. He wouldn't touch the cakes with a ten-foot pole.

"I didn't even notice him leave. Normally, I'm a light sleeper." Fai was happy to see that Yuui felt comfortable enough to go into a different room and amuse himself while he slept. He tried to remember back to his own childhood, when he had gone to live with Ashura. It had taken quite a while for him to stand being by himself.

He hoped that the fact that Yuui was showing such improvements was a good thing.

"I asked him why he wasn't tired after working so hard, and he said your dreams woke him up because they were loud."

Oh dear...

"He can't tune out magical noise just yet." Fai found himself sighing while he tried to remember his dream. He had vivid, realistic dreams, but rarely remembered the ones that were not nightmares.

"He had himself all in knots because he thought that he was making you sad." Kurogane squeezed the mage closer to his body, and it helped to dull the sharp stab of pain those words caused.

"You told him it wasn't him, right?"

"Duh. Told him he makes you happy and distracted his ass. Why are you guys so angsty all the damn time?" Fai chuckled.

It wasn't on purpose that was for sure.

"Whatever you were dreaming about, you should explain it to him tomorrow." Fai took a drink of his wine and bit into one of the honey cakes. Yuui had been so excited to help him knead the dough—they would have to make more tomorrow.

"I don't really remember." It had been about Ashura-ou—that he knew for sure. He was always sad when he dreamed of his adoptive father; even happy dreams left him feeling morose and regretful.

He felt terrible about his death. He couldn't even grant his last wish.

"He's too little to understand the whole picture. If you're sad, he's going to think that it's someone's fault."

"I'll talk to him. We had a lot of fun today, you know? I wish you could have seen it." It had been physically challenging for the both of them. Fai and Yuui had been spending a lot of time in the house lately, and it had been nice to work up a good sweat.

It had been years since Fai had to have such precise timing with his spell weaving. When he had been a child, he used to have to go outside of the castle walls to practice anything his tutors thought he could possible explode because of how difficult it was to catch such mishaps.

"Did he figure it out then?" Kurogane kissed the top of his head and Fai giggled to himself.

"I think he will in a day or two." Once he got it down, he would have a baseline for the other enchantments and magical arts he would learn in the next few years. "It's hard to tell though."

"It'll be good if he starts to learn how to defend himself." Kurogane wasn't wrong.

The ninja had seemed alarmed at the thought that Yuui was going to eventually want to wonder on his own.

Suwa wasn't particularly dangerous compared to most of the worlds they had been to. Nether he nor Kurogane worried about running into something they couldn't handle alone. The demons had been a challenge at first, but now even that was settling with the protective barriers Fai maintained.

With Yuui's magical power, he would be able to protect himself with a basic knowledge of attack and defense spells. He would never even need to truly master the art of spell weaving as Fai had.

"You think he'll have a peaceful life here, Kuro-love?" Suwa was overall a pretty peaceful place. For now, anyway.

"Who can say. It's sure as shit peaceful, compared to some of the other worlds we've been to." Fai got the feeling that Kurogane missed all of that constant danger. But he loved his home and was more than ready to rebuild it.

So, they had settled, even though he still missed the challenges of strong enemies.

"When I was learning magic, Ashura-ou said that I was going to lead armies and travel though dimensions because he saw it in his dreams." He had trained Fai hard to make sure he was prepared. It had been a grueling process, and though he wouldn't be alive today if not for all of that training, he wished he had spent more of it just enjoying the time he had with his adoptive father.

He wanted to make beautiful memories with Yuui, not be the harsh teacher that was required to really grow the qualities of a battle mage.

"What's your point?"

"If he's really going to master magic like me, he's going to need tools we don't have here. Experiences we can't provide." Fai had been taught the basics like all fledgling mages, then was turned loose to self-study though his adolescence.

Experimenting with new spells and self-teaching from books had been how he had finally mastered the art. He had learned more from the castle library then he had ever learned from his tutors. Fai could only teach little Yuui so much.

Then there was the issue of being able to use this knowledge, experience Fai had gained though sparing with the king and other court mages, and then eventually leading armies and fighting alongside his troops.

"Let's focus on one thing at a time Fai. Sowhat if he never gets to your level? It sucks ass that you got to your level because it means you've fought too much. Let's just enjoy our time with Yuui and teach him what he asks to learn." Kurogane ruffled his hair, and Fai turned to kiss him.

"Don't lie. Watching me fight gets you off, Kergs." Fai winked and Kurogane flushed.

Leave it to the ninja to put his mind at ease.

0o0o0

 **Bonus points for you all if you tell me if you would rather they stay in Suwa through the remainder of the story, or if you would like to see them leave for Magic training! I have to make a decision soon on where this fanfiction will go so your opinions are appreciated!**

 **I was struck with an amazing idea but I dont want to fall short of your expectations!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy new years Fam! I hope you enjoy!**

 **I do not own Tsubasa!**

0o0o0

Yuui awoke when he felt Fai jolt upright in bed. He was especially tired from practicing magic the day before and wasn't ready to get out of bed yet…

The sun wasn't even up yet.

Reluctantly peeling his eyes open, Yuui watched with a sleepy gaze while Fai woke the ninja who—unlike Yuui—had no issue jumping to his feet.

Was there something wrong?

Yuui watched as Kurogane put on his armor hastily and Fai tied his hair up in a tight ponytail at the back of his head before dressing quickly. The little blonde felt anxiety start to bubble in his stomach. This wasn't normal…

"What's the matter?" the child rubbed at his heavy eyes but made no move to get out of bed.

Both Kurogane and Fai suddenly seemed to remember he was there and paused in what they were doing to look at him. "He can't stay here alone. We'll drop him off at the village with old lady Katsuya." Kurogane's voice was ruff and Fai only nodded to the ninja.

"It's going to be ok." Fai tried to sooth him but Yuui knew the smile his brother was using was a farce. He could feel that Fai's magic was buzzing. "You remember grandma Katsuya? She runs the little shop?"

The little blonde felt himself lifted out of bed. He was wrapped in warm jacket and was carried out to the front of the house before he even had a chance to protest.

There really must be something wrong… Fai and Kurogane had always brought him along, or one of them would stay home to watch over him. He didn't want to go with the shop woman. He wanted to stay with Fai.

"Has it gotten through yet?" Kurogane grabbed his sword and Fai helped Yuui with his shoes before slipping into his own.

"No but the shield won't hold much longer at this rate." Yuui was again lifted by his brother and he clung closely to him. He had been living here with Fai and Kurogane for a little while know and this had never happened. "You need to take Yuui—If that barrier goes down its going to be casualties for sure."

Yuui didn't understand.

Rubbing at his eyes more furiously he tired to get his muddled thoughts to come together. He knew that Fai put up a big barrier around the village and the closest farms at night. It was to keep everyone safe from the monsters.

An hour or so before sunset his brother went to inner garden and wove the spell while dinner was cooking. It had happened every night like clockwork since he had first arrived. There had never been any problems. His brother was too good at magic for that wasn't he?

Yuui was lifted up by Kurogane and away from Fai. He got a small kiss on the forehead from his brother before the taller blonde grabbed his staff and drew a few runes in the air with his fingers. Within seconds he was gone with a whirl of sparking power.

Yuui could feel his magic ground somewhere in the distance before he felt a slam of powerful chilling energy hit him like a wave. If he held his breath and focused, he could feel it directed at the barrier. He could feel Fai's magic attempting to repair the spell and push more power into it.

"What's going on? Where did Fai go?" The ninja didn't seem bothered by his brother leaving and they moved quickly to the stable.

The wind took on an icy chill that caused him to shiver almost violently. Couldn't Kurogane feel that nauseating amount of power filling the air?

"Something is trying to get thought he barrier. We have to take care of it so you're going to behave for Katsuya." Yuui was settled on the edge of the stall and held on to one of the beams to steady himself.

"A monster?" Kurogane slung the saddle on the horses back before moving to secure it. Yuui knew that there were still many monsters, but both the ninja and his brother had told him that they were nothing to worry about if you knew how to fight.

"Yeah. No human in this land has that kind of strength." The bridle was slipped over the horse's ears and Kurogane lifted Yuui again, this time into the saddle.

"So why did Fai go alone!" Kurogane launched himself up behind him and sighed loudly.

"He can handle himself. Let's worry about you for now. We're going to go pretty fast so just hold on ok kid?" Again, before Yuui had a chance to protest the ninja kicked the animal and it bolted.

Yuui wasn't used to riding—he had ridded with Fai a few times but never this fast— and he felt like he was falling. Even with Kurogane's arm around his midsection holding him in place he felt as though he was going to slip off and fall onto the muddy path.

The cold air burned his cheeks and he tried to suck oxygen into his lungs as they made the trip to the small town on the edge of the estate at a brake neck pace.

The animal came to a sudden stop and Yuui was crying loudly now as Kurogane hopped down and grabbed him roughly with one arm, cradling the trembling boy against his chest. Yuui could see that there were several people awake. They were all silent listening to a terrible noise coming from the distance—if he strained his ears, he could just barley hear it.

Grandma Katsuya agreed to take Yuui without a second thought and he was passed off without another word. With in seconds of being set down, Kurogane was again in the saddle and was heading off towards the direction of those terrible screeching noises.

Those awake all stood outside of their homes listening. There was a large crashing noise and another furious roar, and Yuui was hit with another wave of his brother's chilly magic.

Instead of being knit into the established barrier and hanging with the rest of the magic like a thick mist in the air, it ignited quickly and fizzled out into nothingness. He wiped at his tears and strained his senses to feel more from Fai.

His brother had been giving him daily magic lessons form the third or fourth day he came to Suwa. Most of that time had been spent on learning how to sense the patterns of magic and what they meant. Even from this distance he could tell that Fai was ok—using powerful spells—but alive.

"Let's come on and drink some Tea while we wait Yuui. Lord Kurogane and your older brother will handle this. No need to look so sad." The child was snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at his temporary guardian's kind smile.

Yuui didn't want to go inside… he wanted to go be with Fai and Kurogane.

He wanted his family.

The child's hand was grasped, and he was gently led inside the shop keepers house. He wordlessly followed her and continued to wipe at his teary cheeks with his free hand.

"You've only been in Suwa a little while." The old woman's voice was kind as she led Yuui into her kitchen and motioned for him to take a seat at the low table. He and Fai had visited her and her granddaughter a few times to bring them medicine. Grandma Katsuya had been nothing but kind to him since he had first arrived.

"This happens from time to time. No need to worry though."

How did she know though? If it could get though the barrier then it could break his brother's defenses and then what would happen to Fai?

"What it—they can't stop it? What if—" Yuui felt his stomach get even more queasy at the thought if loosing Fai again. He just wouldn't be able to handle that…

Not again.

Never again…

"They will. Together they single handedly cleared this land, so we could return to our homes after years of this place being over run with those creatures. We needn't worry." The old woman smiled at him and Yuui sniffled pitifully. He knew he should have more faith…

He felt another strong spell and reminded himself that was good.

There was so much of Fai's magic hanging in the air, it felt like a cold fog. Normally there was a hint of his unique magic pattern all over the house and the town and it was like a warm reminder that his brother was passively protecting everyone from the monsters.

Now though it was suffocating. Overpowering to the point that Yuui was chilled to the bone and the air felt like it did just before it rained in the winter time. A damp wet cold that made him want to hide in his futon or ask mama to turn on the heated blanket.

Yuui had never seen Fai use magic that felt so icy and—big. The shop keeper didn't seem to notice one way or the other… Neither had Kurogane.

Another icy chill washed over him, and he felt fresh tears fall from his eyes.

What if something did happen?

What could be so terribly powerful to overcome all the time Fai had spent maintaining the barrier every day?

As his anxiety rose his ability to follow the strings of his mismatched twin's magic diminished.

0o0o0

This was just his luck—A flipping dragon was all he needed to deal with tonight. Fai was attempting to knit the weak spots of the barrier back together when the grate beast screamed at what Fai assumed to be the top of its lungs.

What had they don't to make this behemoth so angry anyways?

There had been dragons in Celese, but they rarely came out of the mountains—especially big ones like this tough lady. Kuro-sama had told him that there hadn't been dragons in Suwa since his father was young.

While Fai had loved the twinkle in his lover's eyes as he relayed the stories of dragon hunting that had been passed down to him from his father—He had been appalled to hear that the creatures had been hunted to extinction.

Well… Near extinction apparently.

Fai didn't blame the dragons for leaving this land. He would have found a new place to live too if there were crazy ninja's with swords trying to hack him to bits. That had been years ago though and the mage knew for a fact that there had been no dragon hunting any time recently.

So why was Mrs. Dragon so angry with there little homestead?

The creature before him was old. Most likely hundreds of years old and its aura hummed of the natural magic of the land. Fai would have been in awe if the thing wasn't currently spitting fire at him while he was trying to focus his power on the weak points of the barrier.

It was beautiful with emerald scales covering most of its muscular body. Sharp spins ran from its snout, all the way down its back to the tip of its tail. Said tail was slammed against the barrier.

While it was only an annoyed flick—it further cracked his magic that was already close to shattering. When Fai had constructed the barrier, he had designed it based on the strength of the demons they had seen so far.

He would have pumped a lot more power into it if he had expected their lovely visitor.

This particular barrier was a complicated spell that took time to weave. He had taken time to design one that would allow for humans and wildlife with pure intentions to pass though easily. Things like the demons or people with ill intentions would smack up against it.

If it went down, Fai would have to fight Mrs. Dragon and he wouldn't be able to shield the town or farms from her fire or the back lash of his own spells. It would take hours to relay the base spell—and they would just have to work around the lack of protection.

"Please go home Mrs. Dragon! I don't want to have to make you! It's really for your own good! People don't taste good—were too bony!" Fai called rather than swearing as she slammed her tail against his spell with more force.

Of course, the beast wouldn't understand him—but at least he felt as though he was trying. The dragons in his homeland didn't eat people. Not when there were meatier animals that didn't throw magic back at them when they were hunted.

He wasn't sure what Dragons usually ate in this land. In Celese they had lived off of  
chèvre de montagne and cerf de neige. Fai hadn't seen animals like those in Suwa, so he wasn't sure what was attracting her.

It couldn't be that Suwa was a nesting ground—even though there were mountains they were relatively small—and dragons hadn't been seen here is years.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence?

Dragons had strong instincts though, and this one seemed just like the ones from his homeland.

More fire was spit against his barrier and Fai sighed loudly.

He had hoped to fix the damage and wait for Kurogane before they tried to drive the beast off, but things were not going to last at this rate. The ninja needed to travel here by normal means and horses were only so fast.

Fai gripped his staff tightly—his power was still steadily flowing though the hot metal and up into the fluorite focus stone at the top—his will gripping the fraying ends of his cracking spell and tying them manually back together again.

With his free hand he drew the runes for a sizeable offensive spell before darting outside of the barrier. Carefully he dodged the lizard's tail and threw his spell, pushing power into the runes. He hoped to become the target of Mrs. Dragons frustration, so he could occupy her while he continued to knit the barrier back together.

It worked rather well considering. The spell hit and did little more than annoy the great creature, who's eyes followed Fai with an angry fascination. He continued on his way away from the barrier and the dragon turned to watch him.

He wove a few more runes together and tossed them her way—this time earning and angry roar back with molten fire. He was just barely able to throw up a personal shield in time by forcing power down though his arm and out of his fingertips to form a large cool solid wall.

It took some of the energy he was using to repair the barrier, but at least he hadn't been turned into a crispy snack.

As soon as the stream of fire ceased, Fai threw another spell with the same amount of force as the one before. He hoped that if he became enough of a pest the creature would give up on what ever it wanted and just leave.

Of course, without causing it any actual harm that was unlikely. Kuro-tan was going to claim him soft no doubt. If dragons were really a rarity in this land it would be a shame to truly harm her.

Besides—what if she had little baby dragons she was trying to feed?

Those oversized, razor sharp jaws snapped at him, and he had to kick off its snout to get enough distance between them to avoid it. Another angry roar accompanied by fire and Fai was starting to feel overwhelmed.

He had continued to focus on dodging Mrs. Dragons attempt to murder him while knitting the barrier back together. Once it was reinforced, he could push enough power into to keep everyone safe, until then he would have to stay on this side to prevent further damage.

As soon as he dropped his personal shield to throw another attack the beast snapped at him again. Fai used this as an opportunity to use her snout as a spring board and flip himself on top the beasts back.

This time Mrs. Dragons roar was particularly impressive as she shook her body like a wet dog. Fai swore under his breath and gripped one of the spines with his free hand and dug the sharp tip of his staff in between two scales in an attempt to keep his balance.

The lizards tail smacked into his personal shield and knocked him over on to more of the sharp spines—before he had a chance to register any pain, he heard a familiar angry voice behind him.

"What the FUCK." The dragon's attention whipped around to the sound of Kurogane's angry bellow and Fai smiled sheepishly at his partner.

"Hi Kuro-sama!" the blonde took advantage of Mrs. Dragons distraction and waved at his lover.

"What the ever-loving FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT!" The ninja roared nearly as loud as the dragon as he got off his horse. He didn't pay any mind as the animal turned tail and ran back to the village.

"Trying to scare the dragon away Kuro-silly." The mage chuckled before turning his attention back to his leg which had been punctured by one of the shorter, yet still unbelievably sharp spines.

The dragon shook its self almost violently this time in an attempt to throw Fai off and the blonde swore loudly as the wound on his leg was ripped. When the quaking stopped the beast roared again and tried to snap at Fai.

Kurogane waisted no time in throwing an attack at the behemoth drawing its attention away from Fai at the moment.

"Careful Kurogane! Stay on that side of the barrier this little lady is no joke." The blonde called, and the ninja let out a stream of curse words.

"Then why the _fuck_ are you on that side of the god damn barrier, dumbass? Do you even have a brain in that thick scull of yours? Get the fuck down and stop playing."

Fai would have. Really, he wasn't enjoying his impromptu dragon ride. It was quite painful.

"I might be stuck." Kurogane attacked again. Fai was thankful he had weaved the ability for things to get out and not back in, when creating the original spell—though passing thought the barrier greatly weekend the ninja's attack.

"You have got to be kidding me." Fai grinned and pointed at his currently impaled left thigh.

"But stay on that side of the barrier! I can get unstuck." Fai was sure if he had been closer to the ninja, he would be able to see his eye brow twitch in irritation. Kurogane hated not being able to do anything and Fai knew it.

The dragon seemed to forget all about Fai and turned its undivided attention towards Kurogane. The blonde pushed an enormous amount of power into the weakest point of the barrier and it held though the next rain of fire.

Without Mrs. Dragon trying to shake him off like a bad cold—Fai was able to carefully use a bit of magic to saw thought the spine that was making its home in the tender flesh of his thigh.

As soon as the fire stopped Kurogane sent another attack at the dragon. The beast recoiled momentarily before swatting a clawed paw at the ninja, only to have it smack into the barrier.

"Kuro-tan be careful not to hurt her!" the mage again used his staff to steady himself on the beasts back as he attempted to stand. He mentally apologized for the discomfort it must be causing her. It probably wasn't more than a mosquito bite, but he still felt guilty as he continued to lean more weight on his staff.

His leg screeched in pain as he attempted to make use of his impaled muscles. His leg gave out under him and his butt settled ungracefully down on the emerald scales of the dragon.

"Fai—I am more worried about you then the god damn dragon. Are you ok you fucking idiot?" the dragon roared again and tried biting at the barrier this time, with little success.

Kuro-sama was so very sweet sometimes. Swearing aside.

Fai was more worried about the dragon with how angry the ninja looked.

"I'll be fine! Don't come over here!" Fai ignored the steam of curse words that were directed at him as he again tired to get to his feet—this time using his good leg to support the majority of his weight.

It left him dangerously off balance and he almost fell the next time the dragon lunged at the barrier. A fall from this height wouldn't kill him—but the injuries sustained would probably immobilize him on the wrong side of the barrier.

Why hadn't Mrs. Dragon just listened to him and left? Surely whatever she wanted wasn't worth an annoying person poking her and dancing around on her back—or an angry ninja planning her demise?

"Fuck this shit. Stay where you are, I'm gonna come get your sorry ass." Kurogane roared over the beast's angry growl. He charged the dragon and Fai felt a special kind of horror as he crossed the barrier and the dragon nailed him with its tail sending him flying.

Kurogane was neither as fast, nor as agile as Fai when it came to dodging. Normally the ninja would block an attack rather then dodge it because of this—he usually had the strength to do it.

No man—not matter how strong—could physically outmatch 14 tons of dragon muscles.

Fai screamed when Kurogane went flying back and bounced across the ground like a stone skipped across the water. He had only been hit with the tip of the long, muscular tail. Even with Fai attempting to shield him with magic—that kind of hit could be a game ender.

Thank god Fai had already had a defense spell ready for him… Anymore and he surely would have broken his spine… or neck… or scull… perhaps all three. Mrs. Dragon was not playing.

"Son of a mother fucking, cock sucking—" Kurogane screamed as he peeled himself off the ground and charged again.

"THIS IS WHY I TOLD YOU TO STAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BARRIER!" the mage didn't usually get overly emotional—and screaming was not his style.

Gosh darn it though—for someone with no magic Kurogane was awfully ballsy.

"Shut up Fai." The blonde wove another defense spell and wrapped the ninja in it as the dragon screamed fire at the man.

To ballsy.

As he got closer the mage could see blood dripping from a wound on his head—as well as a bleeding gash on the man's chest where the Mrs. Dragons spins had broken though the hastily thrown together shield.

Kurogane managed to dodge the clawed paw, which moved much more slowly than the beasts tail had. Crouching he used the next swing of the oversized paw to give him a boost on to the beasts back.

Unlike Fai—he hadn't landed too close to the razor-sharp quills that lined its back. He quickly made his way his way to the blond and lifted him like a sack of flour.

Fai forced extra power into the shield to protect them from the next shower of fire and they made it back behind the barrier surprisingly fast. The ninja dropped Fai down onto the ground and knelt to check out his injures while Mrs. Dragon continued to rage against the barrier.

If this kept up much longer Fai's current magic reserves were going to start getting low. If they got to low, he wouldn't have the energy to maintain any sort of barrier let alone the one required to keep such a monstrous beast out of Suwa.

"No more fucking dragon riding you got that?" Kurogane's voice was tender as he spoke but Fai could see the anger in his eyes at seeing his lover injured.

It wasn't like he had done it on purpose…

"Only if you stay on this side of the barrier Kuro-tan." Fai took a deep breath before using his staff to hoist himself into a standing position. It was much easier to do on level, unmoving ground. Though, he was annoyed to feel the burn in his arms from forcing out so much power.

He always seemed to forget that his power was unbalanced now that he had given up the magic in his left eye to Yuuko. His left eye growing weaker—his right growing stronger. It was natures way of regulating his power, so he didn't harm himself. With it out of balance as it was now he suffered terrible side effects when he drained his reserves.

Normal use of his magic didn't bother him at all—battling with his magic unrestrained?

It was going to feel like he had run a marathon and drank tequila to rehydrate rather then water tomorrow. He was glad to have his wizard staff back—it took some of the strain of his body.

If he didn't use it, he would most likely be left with some pretty severe burns on his hands from pushing this much magic out though his fingertips.

"How the hell am I supposed to kill that thing if I am hiding behind a barrier that weakens my attacks?" The ninja stood as well and grabbed his sword before turning to face Mrs. Dragon.

"You're not?"

"Mage." Kuro-chan looked about ready to haul off and smack him upside the head and Fai couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you really want to kill the only dragon that's been seen in this land for a generation?" The middle of a battle was not the best place to reason with Kurogane—but they really should try and preserve the natural wildlife of Suwa shouldn't they?

"Uh… That's what we do. We kill dragon's idiot."

"But why? Let's scare her away she might have babies." Kurogane looked at him as though he might have sprouted a second head.

"Dragons kill people Fai." As if to emphasize his point—the dragon lunged at the barrier, bracing her two front paws against it and spitting hell fire at them with an angry roar. The blonde pushed more magic into the barrier to reinforce it once again—his arms starting to shake from the effort.

"So do other people! How many dragon attacks have there been in Suwa in the last decade?" Fai watched Kurogane's brows furrowed.

"That's not the point! That thing could flatten the whole village!"

"It is the point! Look how beautiful she is! Dragons are a sign of a healthy magical balance in the land! They hate people anyways because we are always trying to murder them." the dragon slammed its tail back into the barrier and Kurogane swung his sword angerly to throw another attack at it—forcing it to back up several hundred yards.

"She's trying to kill us right fucking now you idiot!"

"We just need to scare her away and she will stop. She's just angry Kuro-sama." Fai again forced more power at the shield and felt his arms scream in protest this time. He was at his limit.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me? You're joking right? That thing tires to fucking eat us and you want to save it?" the ninja's voice got threateningly low and Fai sighed.

Why did Kurogane have to be so ignorant?

"Just trust me. There an important part of your ecosystem whether you realize it or not!" Fai turned his attention back to Mrs. Dragon. He could see where her thick, scaly skin was starting to become damaged from battering against his barrier.

Something without out all those protective scales would have been badly burned from prolonged contact with it.

"You want me to attack it and not kill it?" Fai nodded and Kurogane signed.

No doubt the ninja knew that killing a dragon of this size would be a tall order for an army of men—let alone two. Being a big enough nuisance to scare the thing off though?

A little easier.

"Ok but I'm telling Yuui how reckless and stupid you are for wanting to keep that fucker around." Kurogane smirked before charging at the beast again.

"I told you to stay on this side of the barrier!" Fai forced as much power as he could spare into his next defense spell for the ninja and prayed that his fondness for magical creatures didn't cost him his soulmate.

Kurogane dodged the first tail swipe and Fai breathed a sigh of relief. The dragon's fire couldn't hurt him from within the shield—and he got close enough to land a good hit within seconds.

However—there was no dodging those teeth.

Fai heard the crunching of meatal and watched as the dragon picked the ninja up by his mechanical prosthetic before shacking him violently back in forth. As it was designed to do when put under tremendous strain—it came unattached—and Kurogane went flying.

Fai's spell caught him and protected him as he slid across the rough ground. The shield being worn down with every inch it grated against earth. Kurogane came back through the barrier and was slammed into a tree a few hundred yards away.

Oh yes. Mrs. Dragon was tremendously strong.

With his injured leg, the mage couldn't run to the ninja's side. His momentary panic at seeing his lover take such a terrible attack almost caused him to lose control of the barrier but his training as a war mage allowed him to hold the spell while he screamed his lovers name.

"I'm alive dammit… Don't get your fucking panties in a knot." Kurogane managed to push himself into a sitting position looking quite annoyed at his now missing arm.

Fai breath a sigh of relief. His shield had done its job… No broken spine, or neck, or scull. They were just down a prosthetic which was replaceable.

"You've been calling that thing a girl. How come?" Kurogane seemed suddenly distracted from the dragon that was again smashing against the barrier like a rabid dog going after a kitten.

"Males have patterns on there scales and frilles around there neck. There also smaller and—Oh my god is that a hatchling?" the blond felt his heart drop as the ninja lifted a screeching little lizard up by the loose skin on the back of its neck.

So that's why Mrs. Dragon was so angry with them. Her baby didn't have enough power to trigger the barrier and had most likely become frightened and hid in the shrubbery while its mother tried to rescue it.

The little squeals the hatchling let lose seemed to rally its mother's anger and she whipped her tail against the barrier and let out a mighty roar.

"How the fuck did you get in here you little piece of shit?" Kurogane glared at the baby as he staggered to his feet. The ninja walked with a limp as he slowly made his way to the edge of the barrier.

Fai watched Kurogane squat down, so he was closer to the ground, before tossing the hatchling outside of the barrier. "Get lost ugly."

The little dragon thumped ungracefully into the grass on the other side of the barrier and its mother instantly stopped her fussing in favor of watching the ninja carefully. He stood and stepped back slowly—not turning his back as he took short strides towards Fai.

As soon as he was deemed to be far enough away, she swung her long head gracefully down to sniff the hatchling that was still calling pitifully. There snouts just barely touched before Mrs. Dragon opened her mouth, and with care one wouldn't expect with so many sharp teeth, lifted her young. She deposited the hatchling onto her back where it wove its way between the many spines.

The mother dragon turned to look at Fai and Kurogane one last time before beating its great wings and taking to the midnight sky.

They stood there silently for a moment—just looking as the grate beast flew further and further away.

"That was a fucking waist of a good damn arm." Kurogane huffed and Fai chuckled.

"We'll get you a new one Kuro-daddy. You did a good deed." Fai hadn't thought to look for a stranded baby… he never new dragon hatchlings were so small?

It was suicide to try and get between a Mama dragon and her baby. Since they had lived in only the most secluded regions of Celese he had never had the pleasure to see a new hatchling.

While there was dragon hunting in his homeland—it never consisted of killing the creatures. Rather a wizard would track and attempt to charm one of the smaller dragons to bring it under his or her will. It was a dangerous sport, but left the dragon totally unharmed.

"Still say we should have slaughtered that thing before it can eat anyone." Kurogane hobbled back over to where he had set his sword down to pick up the hatchling and slid it into its sheath.

"I doubt we will ever see her again Kuro-chan." Fai turned his attention back to his injured leg and sighed before easing his sore body down onto the grass. Setting his staff aside he looked at the dragon spine that was currently an unwelcome guest in his thigh muscle.

"Will you come pull this out?" The mage was a baby when it came to his own injures. Kurogane would rip that sucker out of there like a band aid.

"Yeah. One sec." the raven-haired man plopped down next to Fai tiredly on the ground. Carefully, so as not to cut himself, he griped the emerald spine and locked eyes with the blonde. "On the count of three ok?"

"Ok. Just don't do that thing where you say, 'Count of three' and really do it on two. Promise?" Fai herd Kurogane grunt in agreement and he covered his eyes with his hands.

He knew if he tensed it was going to hurt worse.

"Deep breath—Ready for the count?" Fai nodded and did his best to relax.

"Read—OUCH." Kurogane tugged the spine free rather easily before he even started counting. Tossing it to the side he slammed his hand down over the wound that was now squirting an impressive amount of blood on the both of them. "You said you wouldn't do that!"

"I said I wouldn't do it on two, moron. That's pay back for being a dumb fuck anyways." The ninja didn't seem concerned at all with his partners words. "How long till you can walk?"

"This vampire healing thing isn't an exact science you know? If it is, I haven't figured it out yet." Fai placed one of his hands over Kurogane's. "You can have your hand back I got this—" Kurogane took his hand back and wiped the sticky blood off on his pants. "—anyways I drank a few days ago so it should be sooner rather then later."

"Ok. As soon as you can were gonna have to walk back because the horse booked it."

They sat there for the better part of an hour in silence. They were both exhausted and sore at this point and the walk back to the village was going to draining. Just as the sun started to peak over the horizon, they decided it was time to go home and get cleaned up.

Fai's wound was still very painful but was no longer bleeding. Muscle knitting back together took time though and both he and Kurogane were supporting each other's weight and as they hobbled back to the main road.

It took them well over a few hours to make a trip that usually would take them less than one on horseback. It was well past the time the village was up and about when they made it to Grandma Katsuya's door.

Of course—as soon as they made it to the entrance of the village, they were rushed by the any and all of the towns people who were outside. Fai assumed they looked dreadful all scraped up and covered in blood like they were.

Yuui must have heard the commotion because he all but tackled the two of them before they had even seen him coming.

"W—why are you… yo—you're… Fai?" The older blond felt his heart broke into tiny pieces at the absolute distraught look on his little twin's face.

"Were ok. Just a little roughed up We'll be ok—Oh no—Yuui stop crying…" Fai wanted to lift the crying child into his arms and snuggle his tears away. He feared his arms would give out of he tired to lift him now though—he was starting to feel the effects of overusing his power and his arms felt like jelly.

The choked sob that came out of Yuui's mouth while he wrapped his little arms around the both of them was enough to even make Kurogane frown and furrow his brows.

"A—are you gonna… Ar—are you g—gon die?" his voice cracked as he forced the last word out and he started sobbing again.

Fai felt tears prickle at the corners of his own eyes. Before he had a chance to gather his thoughts to answer, Kurogane had used his only arm to wrap around the child's waist and lift him up into a tight embrace.

"Nah. Don't be stupid."

Fai wrapped both his arms around the ninja and sandwiched Yuui between them as he continued to cry so hard his body shook. "We're not going anywhere Yuui." The blond promised.

Neither he nor Kurogane cared that they were making a scene in the middle of the village—and they stayed like that for a while.

The ninja, though injured, carried Yuui all the way home. By the time they had made it through the front door Yuui was had calmed down and was now only sniffling and hiccupping into the crook of the red eyed mans neck.

Poor thing.

Kurogane set him down and Fai only now realized that they had left his shoes that Katsuya's… he would worry about it later today after a good rest. He had never gotten the chance to thank her for looking after Yuui ether…

Kurogane thumped down to take off his shoes. Fai sat more gracefully—though his thigh screeched in pain as he did so, and they tiredly got there shoes off.

"You didn't sleep at all at Grandma Katsuya's did you?" Yuui shook his head no and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "That's ok. We can all take a nap after a hot bath and something to eat."

0o0o0

 **Please feel free to leave constructive criticism! Especially in regard to the fight scene. I have no idea if I pulled it off and I would love to improve my ability to write action scenes for future chapters!**

 **I am going to start updating weekly please look forward to new chapters every Sunday! Yes! That starts this Sunday 1/13/19**


	5. Chapter 5

**As promised!**

 **I do not own Tsubasa!**

 **0o0o0**

Kurogane didn't do bratty little kids—And Yuui's new attitude had him about ready to lose his shit.

Sure—he got that seeing your brother and his lover spattered in their own blood and limping like life had just thoroughly fucked them up the ass could be a bit traumatic. Especially if that was the first time you had seen someone with a hole in their thigh or missing a fucking arm.

He could cut the kid a little slack for that.

All in all, he had taken that childhood trauma like a fucking champ after he had gotten over the hysterical crying fit—and it was explained to him that Fai would heal just fine—and that Kurogane had already lost his arm way before tonight, and that they prosthetic was replaceable.

And alright—Kurogane could also admit that Yuui had been an angle since had first arrived in Suwa even though he had gone though some pretty awful shit in the weeks leading up to his arrival—BUT STILL.

No kid in his care—his lovers mismatched twin or no—was going to act like this!

He fucking made Fai cry!

You didn't fucking make Fai cry. Not in this god damn house. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Yuui didn't look away as Kurogane gave him a death glare that would make Syaoran or Sakura melt in fear. Not this little fucker—he was meeting his glare head on and returning it with equal intensity from his too blue eyes.

"Say you're sorry." Kurogane was sure to keep his voice low. He didn't want this little shit to think he was getting the better of him.

"No." Yuui continued to glare right back at him and Kurogane growled.

"Yes. You were a little fuckwad now say sorry to your god damn brother before I crack your scull open."

"No. Fai started it." Yuui huffed impressively and Kurogane raised an eyebrow at him. Right.

Yes. Fai had obviously done something to insight this little punk's wrath…

Sure.

After the events of last night, they had slept through most of the day. Fai—even though he was still very much injured and starting to feel the side effects of over using his magic—had gotten his ass out of bed to cook for this bratty little twerp.

Sweet right?

Somehow their pleasant chatter about magic lessons turned into an argument.

If you could call Fai patiently explaining to this grumpy munchkin that it was his _job_ to do things like wake up in the middle of the night to fight dragons, an argument. Eventually this apparently unhappy truth led Yuui to say that Fai didn't love him at all—so Yuui hated Fai.

That's right.

Because Fai had left Yuui to fight a _dragon,_ so it didn't _eat_ his ungrateful ass—Fai DIDN'T LOVE HIM—and Yuui HATED him for it.

Fai reacted about as well as Kurogane would have guessed—and the ninja was left wondering why both the blondes were such fucking sensitive morons. Honestly.

And while Yuui had looked slightly ashamed for making his brother cry for about two seconds—as soon as the older blond had left the room, he seemed to forget all about that.

Kurogane however, could not get the look of Fai's face as those words has sunk in and hot tears had fallen from the corner of his eyes. He had of course pulled a Fai—and had briskly walked down the hallways without saying another word.

"You do realize that he and I are responsible for keeping this entire province safe right?"

"Don't care."

"So, you don't care if you get eaten by a dragon?" Kurogane felt his anger rising but he did his best to swallow it.

"No." the twerp continued to glare daggers at him and crossed his arms to emphasize his point.

Oh yeah, he sure believed that. One look at that giant green lizard and he would have pissed his fucking pants.

"Uhuh. Ok. So—you don't care if the people in the village get killed? Even the other kids? What about grandma Katsuya's grate grandchild that's gonna be here soon?" Yuui bit his bottom lip and Kurogane saw tears start to prickle at his eyes.

"Why is it your guy's job to protect that! FAI ALMOST DIED!" The little boy screamed at the top of his lungs but was holding his tears at bay. Damn could he holler.

"He did not dammit. I've seen Fai get one of his eyes ripped out of his fucking scull and he's still here." The ninja mentally cringed remember what Fai had looked like just before they had made the deal with the witch to save him.

Best decision he had ever made.

"Nuhun! He has both his eyes!" Yuui shouted back at him and scrubbed at his teary eyes.

"Maybe when he's not crying because you're being an asshole you can ask him. He told you on our journey he almost died and that's why his eyes turn gold." Yuui gave a little nod. "Yeah well that's cuse his eyeball got ripped out of his fucking face. A little stab wound to the leg isn't anything more than a minor inconvenience."

"YOUR ARM GOT RIPPED OFF!"

"We've been over this. It was a prosthetic. I lost my arm in a different world to save your stupid brother."

"Fai isn't stupid!" Yuui tuned his voice down from a scream to a shout for that bit and Kurogane smirked.

"If you hate him so much why do you care if I call him an idiot huh?" the ninja watched as Yuui made an upset whine as he sucked in a few breaths.

"Why are you so MEAN!" The tot stood and stomped his feet but still managed to keep his tears at bay.

Kurogane had to hand it to the kid—he did a hell of a job of bottling shit up and dealing with it in a not so healthy way.

Just like Fai.

"Hey, I'm not the one who said they hated their brother for saving them from a dragon. You sure I'm the mean one?"

Yuui scrunched up his whole face before the tears finally started to fall and he wailed loudly.

"I—I just—I—I don't want—he got—hurt!" the tiny blonde stomped his feet again and Kurogane got up and went to his side. He noticed just how small Yuui really was compared to his own towering stature and frowned.

He wouldn't deal with a fucking brat—a kid worried about his brother's safety and not sure how to handle his emotions? He could do that.

He had had a feeling that's what was wrong. He had felt similarly seeing his dad get hurt when he had been Yuui's age. It's hard for someone so young to understand—but the answer was not to push the one you were worried about away though. That was a Fai move—and his moves sucked.

Gently, he dropped his hand on to the brat's shoulder and bent down so they were eye level.

"You don't really hate Fai, do you?"

Yuui shook his head back and forth and continued to cry.

"Go say you're sorry." The ninja straitened and grabbed one of Yuui's hands before leading him off to look for Fai.

They found him in his medicine room mixing up some concoction or another in an attempt to keep busy. He looked more exhausted then upset but managed to offer a genuine smile when he turned to see them.

As soon as the door was opened Yuui let go of his hand and rushed to his mismatched twin's side. Fai did a decent job hiding his wince as the child threw his arms around the older mans injured leg and hugged him tightly.

Fai flashed him a thankful smile before bending down and lifting Yuui into his arms and soothing him by humming the same soft cradlesong he always did.

He didn't know why he had to fall in love with such a fucking idiot. He nodded at Fai before heading out to give them time to make up and talk it out without his interference. He needed a drink anyways.

Those two were a full time job and a half some days…

The next time he saw his blond idiots, Yuui was fast asleep in his mage's arms—his head lolling against the older's neck and his arms and legs dangling like limp noodles. Rather then laying the brat down for the night, Fai seemed to be content in soaking up the extra snuggles.

"What did you do—drug him?" Kurogane hadn't expected Yuui to fall back to sleep anytime soon given the fact that they had spent the majority of the day recovering from their battle. The kid liked his naps—but he could easily stay up late in the night with Fai and Kurogane after a full day of lounging like today.

"No Kuro-silly. Just some gentle persuasion." Fai slowly settled down next to the ninja, letting a pained grunt escape his lips as he thumped down on to the wooden porch that overlooked the inner courtyard.

"That song you keep humming?" Kurogane looked at him out of the corner of his eye to see his mage smile. One of the small tired ones that he usually only gave when they were snuggled up in bed.

"Magic." Fai confirmed. "Trick of the trade."

"Normally I wouldn't go for shit like that… but I'm glad he's asleep." The ninja didn't like the idea of influencing other people's thoughts and emotions artificially—but Yuui was… Well Yuui was Yuui and he was sure the kid appreciated the help calming down after such a rough day.

"You do know that's why he's so good at going down at bed time right?" Fai chuckled and ran a hand up and down the child's back.

"I take it back—that's pretty shitty mage."

"I remember when I was a little boy and Ashura-ou first brought me home. He used to use sing me that song every night." Fai's eyes were unfocused as they ghosted over the garden in front of him. That far off look always made Kurogane wonder just what the hell he was actually seeing.

"You're fine with someone else influencing you like that?"

"I wish someone could do it for me now." Fai admitted wearily. "Anyways—I was a little younger then Yuui is now when I first moved to Luvel and I would get so—" Fai paused for an impossibly long moment. "I don't think I know the word to explain it… _sil'naya trevoga."_

Kurogane listened to Fai speak his native tongue. He had become fluent in Japanese rather quickly with the help of lessons from the tutors at Shirisagi Castle. His accent was noticeable but Kurogane thought that the idiots Japanese sounded nice.

Almost like he was singing every sentence. Fai said it was because whatever language he had grown up speaking was heavily reliant on tone and pitch, as well as words themselves.

"Back then everything was terrifying—and I was so afraid I would do something wrong or make someone angry that by the end of the day I felt physically ill."

Fai rubbed up and down Yuui's back again and Kurogane listened to him release an exhausted sigh.

"Ashura-ou used to lay with me in bed and pet my hair and sing me that lullaby. It wasn't until I was an adult that I knew it was laced with gentle persuasion magic though—but that didn't change how much I appreciated him making sure I could fall asleep."

Kurogane nodded slowly. "Are all lullaby's like that where you're from?"

"Only when sung by someone like me or King Ashura. Like I told Yuui—incorporating magic into music is no easy feat."

A short silence fell between them and Fai continued to hold Yuui protectively as he stared off into the distance.

He liked hearing about Fai's life before they had met—especially the happy parts. It always left the idiot morose though, and Kurogane wished he wouldn't push himself emotionally on top of the physical exhaustion tonight. It was a recipe for nightmares—and when Fai had nightmares it effected both the mismatched twins.

The blond yawned quietly before turning his attention back to Kurogane and offering a goofy grin. "Does this mean we get to go to Piffle to get you a new arm?"

"Tch. What if that dragon comes back?" He hadn't had the mental energy to worry about it yet.

This stupid arm shit was always such a pain. Braking at the most in opportune times… if he didn't know any better, he would think that someone was still hiding in the shadows throwing obstacles in their way to make their lives difficult.

If he hadn't of killed that fucking Reed bastard with his own two hands—he might be suspicious that a dragon appearing so suddenly after decades of peace was almost unbelievable without a little nudge from someone.

"I am sure Princess Tomoyo would understand and send someone to rule in your stead. It's not like there is much ruling to be done here anyways." Fai's mischievous smile only grew and Kurogane had half a mind to swing his katana at the idiot.

"Let's ask the Witch first."

"Hyuu~ But you hate paying Yuuko."

Fai wasn't wrong. Kurogane hated the whole equal exchange shit they had to do when it came to asking for the dimensional bitches help. What could he do though? Yuui hadn't even settled in yet and all of a sudden there were dragons? That's not even taking anything else that came with running an entire province into account.

He had to be here… and because of that he really freaking needed a new prosthetic, which meant that this was going to cost more than he wanted to spend.

"I just got a feeling ok? We shouldn't leave. Who else can maintain a strong enough barrier to keep the dragons out? Who's gonna train those stupid kids how to use a sword… We're not easily replaceable you know."

Fai's smile faded, and his eyes softened. Leaning slightly, he managed to place a chaste kiss on the ninja's cheek. "Fine but next time its brakes were going to Piffle..."

"Hn. There won't be a next time moron." His mage shook his head before shifting Yuui so he could use one of his hands to draw the spell needed to contact Yuuko. Kurogane didn't miss the look of discomfort in his features as he forced the magic to manifest with the sweeping motions his fingers made.

He made a mental note to check Fai over one more time before they laid back down for the night. Through all of their years of travels he had seen what happened when Fai used too much of his magic at once. Humans were not designed for the flow of so much raw power and it left the blond with terrible migraines and soreness in his arms and hands form wielding his magic at full force.

Fai had once told him it was worse now that he had given up with magic in his left eye to the witch. His two eyes had balanced his power—one growing stronger—one growing weaker.

Now that his power simply increased with every use it left him with side effects they hadn't anticipated.

There wasn't much that the ninja could do beside run his hands over his mages achy arms and feed him sugar and caffeine in the hopes he would recover from the aftershock soon… He hated that he couldn't do much—so he babied Fai though it even though the blond hated it.

Once his mage had pushed power into the little circle of squiggles, a floating portal bearing the dimensional bitches face was floating in front of them. She looked smug from the moment she noticed that Kurogane was very obviously missing an arm.

"I see you two have been playing rough." Yuuko cooed and took a long drag from her pipe—puffing the smoke out indolently.

Kurogane growled and Fai chuckled.

"It's my fault I'm afraid. Is there any way we could order a new one? Now's not the best time to leave." The blondes voice was soft, and he smiled kindly at the woman who was responsible for constantly fucking with them.

"That could be arranged should you be willing to pay a price." She took another long drag from her pipe and looked at them carefully. "Tell me boys—" she blew the smoke out. "How is Yuui settling in?"

Kurogane saw Fai instinctively hug his little twin closer and the ninja felt the sudden need to reach for his Ginryuu. It wouldn't do him much good slashing at someone who wasn't really here. Dammit though, what kind of question was that?

"He's doing wonderful. We started him on the basics of magic and he is working on simple defensive shields." His mage answered, eyes downcast.

"That's was a wise decision. He'll be needing that no doubt." She took another long drag and sighed. The smoke releasing in one large cloud.

What the fuck.

What did she know? Was she just making conversation? Was something going to fucking happen to Yuui that she knew about and wasn't fucking telling them?

This shit is why he _hated_ asking her for help.

"It's a most useful spell." Fai affirmed and started to again rub a hand up and down the sleeping boys back.

"Indeed." The witch turned her attention to Kurogane and he felt goose bumps rise on his arms as she scrutinized him.

Fuck this shit.

"So, it's not a good time to leave because?" she let her words trail off and watched them with a wolfish grin.

"Our lands are still being reestablished. Leaving them unattended would cause chaos." Kurogane had learned long ago to be careful of how much information he gave her. Yuuko always seemed to know everything anyways, but she was not going to get it from him.

"Oh." She said noncommittally. "Well we can work around that I suppose."

The ninja felt his eye start to twitch. "What's the price?"

"You have one year to prepare to run an errand for me. I will send you to a world to collect an item for me and once you have completed the task you can return to Suwa." The witch grinned at them and Kurogane growled.

Of course she was telling them not asking them…

Fucking bitch.

"Fine." Kurogane bit out and ignored as that woman's smile widened.

"Ok then—Someone will be by soon to drop off a new arm for you Kurogane. Once you have received it the clock starts ticking. I will contact you closer to the date of your departure and give you more details." With that the connection cut out.

The ninja wanted to punch someone… seeing as it was just his lover and Yuui he settled for quietly growling out a stream of quite curse words—so as not to wake the twerp.

Fai didn't seem too bothered by the witch's request and watched Kurogane with an entertained expression.

"I really hate her."

"I know Kuro-sama." Fai leaned over and kissed his cheek again.

"You think we can get things squared away in a year?" the taller man sighed, accepting fate for what it was. They would have to make it work… Though this time next year they would be smack dab in the middle of summer when the demons were most active.

That wasn't even the icing on the fucking cake—There was growing discontent amongst his fellow province lords with his new station and lack of experience. If he were to leave, there was nothing stopping them from invading. Small wars were not uncommon amongst the many provinces in Nihon.

Even if the Mikado expressed her dislike for such aggressions towards the province of Suwa, it wouldn't guarantee the safety of the people living here. They were vulnerable as they were now—there population was small, and that type of aggression would destroy any chance they had at rebuilding his childhood home.

Fai had been a god sent so far when it came to dealing with his fellow war lards. When Suwa was destroyed many years ago the ninja had only just started to learn from his father the many duties that came with governing.

Fai been raised as a prince though and once he had become fluent in Japanese—he had begun to easily managed all of the negotiations on Kurogane's behalf.

Fai had a natural way with words and somehow knew what the hell to do an say so that they hadn't pissed anyone off yet. Not only that but the moron was surprisingly good with managing their money—and some how kept the whole thing together.

He didn't understand how—and wasn't sure he wanted to.

Without Kurogane here to kick some ass, or Fai to talk some sense into the greedy war lards that surrounded their small province—There was nothing stopping them.

"I think we need to find someone to take your place while were gone first and foremost. Once we have that we will worry about setting a defense that no one will have the moxie to mess with." Fai smirked at him.

If Fai couldn't convince someone to do what he wanted with his words—he had crafty ways of forcing his will. Kurogane hadn't gotten to see this side of his mage when they had been traveling—they never stayed in one place long enough for him to need to use that particular skill.

It had been slightly unnerving to see Fai threaten men with armies 10 times the size of there own into backing down. He did it though… Had earned somewhat of a reputation for it too. The ninja was glade that Fai was his mage—he would be a difficult fucker to beat.

"What do you have up your sleeve?" Whatever it was he came up with, no matter how unorthodox or convoluted, Kurogane would roll with it. He had resigned himself long to letting Fai do as he damn well pleased. No use in stopping him—he couldn't catch the idiot if he wanted to—and usually got talked into it anyways.

He also trusted the moron.

"It's a good thing we didn't kill those dragons Kuro-strong." His lover had tugged his face into a perfectly tranquil and neutral mask—but his eyes twinkled with that unholy light the most certainly spelled out trouble.

"Mage."

"It's too soon to do anything yet. Let's keep an eye out for are scaly friends though. Ok Kuro-chi!" the blonde chirped and Yuui stirred in his arms mumbling something unintelligible.

"Is this something that's gonna make the munchkin worry?" Kurogane could live with Fai doing something reckless and stupid because he knew the idiot could usually handle himself. He no longer had a death wish—so when he tried something that was as idiotic and dangerous as playing with a dragon—it was for a good reason.

Yuui wouldn't understand that at all though.

"Probably." At least Fai would admit that. "We'll worry about it when the time comes. For now—I'm very sleepy." Those words left his lovers lips in a tired whine and Kurogane sighed.

He was also still tired—sore from getting whipped around like a rag doll, and sleeping in an awkward position when they had laid down earlier in the day. Yuui had insisted on sleeping between he and the mage and somehow during their nap had managed to push the ninja off the futon and onto the very unforgiving floor.

Kurogane used his arm to balance himself as he got to his feet. Over the years he had gone through quite a few of the prosthetics—so he had mostly gotten the balance thing down with or without the damn thing.

Once he was standing, he offered his hand to Fai and helped him up as well. His leg still hadn't healed completely, and he was still nursing it like a cat that had jumped from a tree that was just a little too high. A wound like that for a normal person would have taken months to heal since the muscle had been ripped—with the vampire blood helping out it would still take a few days for him to feel 100%.

They wordlessly made their way back to their room. Yuui was settled into his bed and Fai and Kurogane crawled into their own futon like the dead returning to there grave after a long night of terrorizing the living.

 **0o0o0**

Yuui woke much more peacefully then the previous night and was thankful for that. Though awake, he wasn't quite ready to get up yet. He was too warm for that. Instinctively he curled into a tighter ball and snuggled into his warm pillow.

Yuui heard a very unhappy grumbled from Fai and peeked his eyes open to see a single red eye watching him tiredly. He didn't remember crawling into Fai and Kurogane's bed, but it happened most nights.

Before the little blonde could ask what was wrong, he heard another grumble from behind him and could hear some fabric shift. He knew his brother was awake—he would be able to tell if it was because of a bad dream due to his magic—and was instantly concerned at the pained wine that escaped him.

Fai had sworn up and down last night that he would be alright with some rest… but if that was the case then why did he sound so sick?

Kurogane shifted on the bed and Fai wined again. Yuui turned his head to see that his mismatched twin was laying on his stomach and was covering his head with a pillow.

The ninja was on his feet and pulled the curtains shut so that the early morning light was blocked out. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but he could hear as Kurogane walked out of the room. Closing the door quietly behind him, and leaving the mismatched twins alone.

What little noise the shoji door did create caused another grumble to escape Fai's lips. Yuui didn't understand what was wrong… cautiously the little blond rolled over to face Fai and he watched him for a moment.

Why was he shaking? Was he cold?

"Are you ok?" Yuui whispered. He watched as Fai's grip on the pillow tightened, his knuckles turning white.

Fai didn't answer and Yuui frowned. Fai always answered him… Did his tummy hurt? Sometimes Yuui didn't feel like talking when he felt nauseous… But why did his brother have a tummy ache?

Kurogane came back into the room carrying a tray, holding on to one of the handles and balancing the other side on his hip as he walked. Kurogane closed the door with his foot and came to kneel at the blonde's side.

"You know the drill. This is all I can do so drink it." the ninja managed to set the tray onto the floor even though he was down an arm. His voice was surprisingly tender and soft—a tone Yuui wouldn't have thought the man capable of.

"I can't the room is spinning." Fai's voice came out in a high pitched and whine. Yuui felt his concern rising and watched as Kurogane slowly pried his brothers hand off the pillow. Using as much care as he could while he wrestled the fabric free.

"Just close your eyes. I'll help you just—" The pillow was tossed to the side and the tiny blond could see that Fai already had his eyes closed tightly.

Tummy aches didn't make the room spin… How had he gotten so sick when last night he had seemed fine?

"—good. Yeah that's it." Very slowly Fai rolled off of his stomach onto his side, then slowly onto his back. Kurogane snaked his arm around the back of Fai's neck and pulled the slighter man into his lap so that the older blond was leaning against the ninja's chest.

Without another word Kurogane grabbed a glass of viscus liquid off the tray and held it to the blonde's lips. "Drink all of it."

Yuui watched his brother slowly do so before settling back down onto the futon with help from the ninja. Kurogane tugged the covers up over him and gave the previously confiscated pillow back so he could resume his previous position.

He watched his brother curl in on himself and looked at Kurogane.

The ninja watched Fai for a few seconds before he turned his attention to Yuui and grabbed his hand. He gently tugged him to his feet and walked him out of the room. He didn't want to leave Fai alone but didn't argue. Yuui tired to mimic his quite foot steps and followed him out into the kitchen.

"Whats wrong with Fai?" Kurogane motioned for him to sit at the table and again, Yuui didn't argue.

The raven-haired ninja looked exhausted as he filled the kettle with water and lit the stove. "Headache. Bad one."

"Oh… Mama used to get headaches too… Papa called them migraines." Yuui and his Fai had gotten used to amusing themselves because mama's headaches made it so she had to lay down most of the day.

"Yeah well these aren't normal migraines. He can explain it better than me probably—but this happens when he's an idiot and uses too much magic." Kurogane leaned against the counter while he waited for the tea to brew and watched Yuui with sharp eyes.

He was worried… Yuui had never seen Kurogane look worried about anything…

"Can we give him medicine?" He had had to give his mama her medicine out of the little orange bottles. Fai had a medicine room—and his brother was the person people went to when they had tummy aches and cuts that needed medicine.

Who did they go to when Fai needed medicine though?

"I gave him something to help. He just has to struggle through until it passes."

Yuui could tell that Kurogane didn't like that he couldn't do more. Yuui didn't like it ether. He wanted to help… Surely there was something he could do?

"Shouldn't we watch over him?" Mama had said that snuggles always made her feel better. Maybe that would help his mismatched twin as well?

"We'll check on him in a few hours and make him drink something. Till then we'll just have to wait." Kurogane had to make two trips to bring the tea to the table—and Yuui helped him pour it so that it wouldn't spill.

They spent most of the morning in silence. Yuui didn't mind the quite at all—Usually.

His home with his mama and papa and his Fai had been loud all of the time. Even in the middle of the night there was always traffic outside or a neighbor making noise to fill the silence. Here though, when no one talked there was only the sound of cicadas or birds and maybe the horses.

It was nice.

Normally at least. Right now it just made Yuui think about how Fai would normally be chattering away while Yuui worked on practicing his spell runes.

Now it was too quiet… He hoped Fai felt better soon.

 **0o0o0**

 **I am so freaking excited for this story guys! The next chapter will introduce some new characters to our little Yuui so I hope you all look forward to reading it as much as I look forward to putting the finishing touches onto it.**

 **Till next week!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Tsubasa!**

 **0o0o0**

Yuui couldn't remember going to bed last night but he woke up curled on his futon facing Fai. If the little bit if light filtering into the room was any clue, it was probably late morning or early afternoon by now. Kurogane was gone as well—and had left all the windows and doors covered and closed.

He knew that the ninja had let him stay up way past his usual strict bedtime and he would have probably been happy to go back to sleep if he didn't pick up on a tiny magic whisper from his mismatched twin. Instead of settling back down to nap he flung the covers to the side and sat up to look at his brother with a frown.

Fai had hardly moved at all since yesterday. He had spent the day curled up on the futon, while Yuui and Kurogane had quietly passed time on the other side of the house to avoid making the migraine worse. They only time they had checked on him was to force him to drink water, and Yuui had not been able to stop worrying.

Even though the room was dim with all the windows closed, there was still enough light for him to see that Fai was lounging on his back with the covers tossed aside. His hair was tangled, and his sleep cloths were rumpled…

Fai normally looked perfect—even first thing in the morning.

Remembering how yesterday the smallest of noise had made his brother's headache worse, he attempted to crawl into the other futon quietly. He ran a hand though the long tangled locks in a silent query of his wellbeing and continued to frown at the older twin.

He didn't like it when Fai didn't feel well.

Said blond made a soft sound of acknowledgement and shifted his arm to look at Yuui with a single golden eye.

Even gold and squinting against the little bit of light in the room, they looked loving and warm.

Yuui didn't deserve Fai… and Fai didn't deserve to feel so sick… he wasn't used to be angry but no one should make his brother feel like this.

"Are you feeling any better?" The child made sure to keep his voice to a whisper and he tried to smile like Fai always did when he didn't feel very well. Yuui hoped he pulled it off.

He hated it when his brother's eyes turned gold… Not as much as he hated that his brother was sick—he didn't normal feel bad when his eyes were gold. At least, the tiny blond didn't think he did.

"I'm getting there. I am sorry if I worried you Yuu." Fai's voice was gravely from disuse and he swallowed a few times.

"Your eye is gold." He watched his brother shift onto his side and used a shaky arm to pull the tiny blond into a loose embrace. Fai's skin felt hot and he could feel how his brother was trembling. "I should go get Kurogane…"

"No. He'll be back after he is done with whatever it is he's doing." Fai kissed Yuui's forehead and yawned.

"Are you cold?"

"Not particularly. Its just magical backlash."

That's what Kurogane had told him yesterday as well…

Yuui watched Fai's magic carefully—felt as the taller blonde reached out with his senses to get a feel for what was going on around the house. The stronger the whisper of magic became the worse his brother's trembling got.

Eventually Fai cut his magic back off and sighed. No more words were spoken, and Fai seemed to want to get some more rest and sleep off whatever he was feeling. Yuui could tell when he had finally drifted back to sleep when the muscles his face relaxed, and his magic drifted about lazily—no longer locked away under strict control.

His dreams had been quite yesterday—and the same still held true now.

As carefully as he could, he got to his feet and slid the door open just wide enough to slip through before closing it again. Fai might be fine waiting for the ninja to get back—but Yuui couldn't stand sitting by while he felt so bad…

They could at least fix his eyes.

He found Kurogane in the training grounds with a group of village kids. Even still injured from the fight the other day, he was working the kids hard on their regular lessons. Yuui stopped dead in his tracks and loitered behind the soji door as he was hit with a sudden wave of anxiety.

He had never gone outside when the other children where here… Even though both Fai and Kurogane had encouraged his participation, he had never been able to make it outside with the other kids. It was too scary.

The kids back from where he was from had tormented he and his Fai. Name calling, pushing, and hitting seemed to happen any time they had worked up enough courage to venture out to the playground behind their apartment buildings. Eventually those kids made him so nervous about going outside of the family apartment that he would get stomach aches any time they had to leave… Even just to go to the store with mama.

What was stopping the kids in Suwa from hating him all the same?

Yuui hadn't missed the cautious looks the adults gave he and Fai when they ran errands. While the adults were always thankful when Fai brought them medicine, they just treated him—well different. Fai was the first person the villagers went to when someone needed stiches or a broken bone set, but it was almost as though they were afraid of him?

It was obvious that everyone respected him though, so Yuui couldn't understand the looks they received.

It didn't make sense to him one bit—but the adults attitude made him terrified to try and play with the other kids. Yuui would much rather cuddle his brother and read a story book or work on magic lessons then worry about the other children…

Fai needed Kurogane though and those kids had his full attention at the moment. The ninja couldn't sense his magic like Fai—he couldn't just wait to be noticed. Taking a deep breath, he slid the door open and caught the attention of all 12 students as well as the ninja who had been in the middle of instructing them on a new drill.

When Yuui didn't say anything Kurogane went back to his instructions and the kids were torn between listening to their teacher and watching the tiny blond carefully.

Right… He could do this.

Fai needed him.

Three more deep breaths and Yuui ran across the training field and flung his arms around Kurogane's legs and tired to ignore the kids. "Fai'seyesaregold."

The words came out in an a quite mumble but Kurogane had somehow understood him. "He's up?"

A quick nod.

"You wait here I am going to go tend to him. Sora—you're in charge while I'm gone. No one stab each other." And with that Yuui was left standing in front of a horde of strange children. Alone.

They all silently watched Kurogane head back into the house and once he had disappeared, Yuui was acutely aware that he was the center of attention.

He felt a sinking in his stomach—the kind of nervous feeling he hadn't felt since coming to live with Fai and Kurogane. Tears prickled at his eyes and he looked at his feet, shoulders hunching forward, as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"Hey—Yuui Right?" the little blonde felt a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched. Yelping as he jumped back. "Whoa—hey are you ok?"

"I—I uh… I am ok…" He wasn't sick like Fai or hurt like Kurogane.

He was just a giant baby. A big, stupid, useless baby.

"Is your other dad hurt or something?" The little blond looked up in surprise at the older boy's words.

His dad?

"There not—Fai is my brother. That's why we look so similar." He and Fai actually looked nothing like their own dad. They looked just like there mama though.

"Are you a Yosei to then?" another child, one much closer to Yuui in age, asked curiously stepping closer to him.

Yuui took another step back.

Fai wasn't a fairy. That was just silly.

"No? Fai isn't—we're not Yosei. I don't know what you're talking about." the kid looked skeptical and Yuui frowned. Settling down into the grass and tucking his knees to his chest, he hoped that Kurogane would be back sooner rather then later.

"Are you sure? My mama says that Kurogane-sama was bewitch by a Yosei when he was sent away for having a broken heart."

What? That made even less sense.

Before he had time to formulate his answer another one of the kids piped up as well. "Nuhun. Papa says that Kurogane-sama saved Fai-sama's life, so he uses his Yosei magic to serve him."

They thought Fai was a fairy because of his magic? Yuui was becoming very confused.

"Guys! Don't be dumb. Fai-sama was a prince in a world far far away and Kurogane-sama killed his king and took the Yosei as his prize." Yet another one of the children offered and Yuui was scowling ferociously now—tears forgotten as strange story after strange story was tossed out.

"I thought that Fai-sama met Kurogane-sama at a match makers and they had to pay a high price to be with there soulmates! Fai-sama healed Kurogane-sama's broken heart and they returned home!"

"No way Kurogane-sama took on the Yosei's son as a student and he had his soul stolen when Kurogane-sama wasn't looking and so the young lord had to team up with Fai-sama to rescue him and now he is trying to make up for his mistake by keeping the Yosei as a wife!"

"Grandma says that Fai-sama was a cursed Yosei who brought misfortune and that Kurogane-sama broke his curse so they could get married and live is Suwa together."

What. The. Heck?

"Fai is not a Yosei. He and Kurogane met while traveling. They fought side by side and fell in love… No bewitching, no kidnaping, no serving." Where had so many strange stories even come from?

Yuui had heard plenty of stories about his brother and the ninja's journey. About the princess and the archeologist—the feathers—the many different worlds—the food—alcohol. None of that other stuff.

Yuui had also head a little bit about what Fai's life was like before he had met Kurogane—that he had been born in a world that didn't want him because of his magic and his twin. That he had been taken in by a King in an icy kingdom after his Yuui had given his life so that he could leave… and lived as a prince. He had left to follow his destiny though… not because Kurogane had killed his adopted dad and stolen him… not because he was cursed…

That was all ridiculous.

"If you guys aren't Yosei then why do you look so strange? You're the only ones with yellow hair and fair skin—and your eyes!"

"I look like my mom. Why is that so weird?" Yuui could admit that they stuck out when surrounded by the tanned skin and dark hair people of japan. So what though? Why did that make them less then human?

"Is your mom a Yosei?"

"No…"

"So you're just normal?"

"I think so?"

"So then how come you don't train with us? You're always hiding inside with Fai-sama."

"Yeah! Your stuck to your brother's skirt like a toddler! You never play with us!"

"I—uh—I don't know…" Yuui felt slightly overwhelmed but far less anxious. So the kids didn't hate him, and they were not afraid of him. Even though they had thought he was a fairy…

Why a Fairy?

Fairies were not even scary…

"Well—Kurogane-sama left me in charge and I say that you have to train with us." Sora, the oldest of the group knelt down in front of him and offered a kind smile. "So how about it Yuui?"

The little blond nodded. He hated being alone anyways, and watching Fai sleep was boring. He had been watching the sword lessons for weeks now and Fai had told him he would need to learn how to use material weapons eventually as part of his magic training.

"I—I've never… I don't know what to do though." The blond admitted as he got to his feet. Sora placed a hand on his back and led him to the middle of the group.

"You live with the best swords men in all of japan and you got no clue?"

Yuui shook his head back and forth.

"Well—you just got here so we'll help you get caught up." Yuui accepted one of the wooden practice swords.

Who would have thought the village kids would be so nice to him?

Kurogane was back within half an hour and Yuui smiled at him as Sora walked him though the basic stances with the long sword.

They all rushed the retired ninja, Yuui included, as soon as he was noticed. Sora was the first to speak—wondering if they were going to call it a day.

"No way. You've all barley broken a sweat, slackers."

"Just figured you would want to spend time with Fai-sama. Is he sick?" Kurogane scowled at the question and sighed.

"He used to much magic fighting that damn dragon. He'll be fine—and you all still have a lot of work to do today. Form up—back to your drills."

Kurogane was a strict teacher—but not as strict as Fai was with magic lessons. He didn't make him stop what he was doing and start from the beginning if his form wasn't perfect like Fai did when he drew spells runes—which was nice—and while Yuui enjoyed the exercise, he wasn't used to it and was exhausted by the time noon rolled around and the lesson finally finished. Like the other kids he had fallen onto the grass and lazed about while they took a water brake and wondered home for lunch. He was so tired he thought about falling asleep right then and there—but bolted upright when Kurogane asked him if he wanted to go see Fai.

The house was thankfully much cooler then outside—and the wood felt pleasantly cool against his feet. Yuui held Kurogane's hand as they silently went to the room they all slept in only to find the futons piled in the corner, ready for washing, and no Fai in site.

He wasn't hard to find. He hadn't gone far ether, the sound of lazy humming led them too the bath and they opened to door to find the older blonde soaking in the tub with his eyes closed.

0o0o0

Fai stirred from his sleep by a cool hand brushing his hair out of his face. His eyes still stung from the little bit of light the curtains let though—but he was miles ahead of where he had been yesterday.

He didn't need to open them to know he was next to him. He could smell Kurogane… and not Yuui.

Where was Yuui?

Peeking his eyes open he lazily smiled at his scowling lover. "Where is—"

"Outside with the other kids. He was all freaked out that your eyes were gold and here I find you napping like a cat." There was a hint of amusement in his tone, but Fai knew the ninja had done more then his fair share of worrying as of late.

"He's not normally that social." The mage eased himself into a sitting position and crawled shamelessly into his prey's lap.

His body was sore—his skin almost stinging from where it melded against the ninja's warmed body, but he snuggled into the crook of his neck anyway. Inhaling his scent helped him relax. He didn't even care if he was sweaty and unshowered—he loved it.

"I don't think it was his first choice. He ran out there and told me to come help you since your eyes are gold." Kurogane tilted his head so that Fai would have the room necessary to access all that he needed.

Fai hoped he wasn't to uncomfortable. Yuui staying out side right now with the other kids was for the best—maybe he could make a friend or two while avoiding being traumatized by watching his twin feeding.

"Since when did the mighty Kurogane start taking orders form a 7 year old?" a hot tongue ran across the sensitive skin—seeking out the obvious pulse point.

His heart always raced when Fai hovered at his neck—anticipation of the act to come no doubt—and it drove his instincts insane.

"We're both worried about you. Hurry up. I got to get back before the kids start looking for us." Fai didn't need much more urging then that. He didn't have the energy to tease—even if this was one of the rare moments they were actually alone.

He was _starving_ after using so much magic.

His teeth sank into his prays flesh and his instincts took over. This was a well-practiced dance that had taken years to perfect. They had thankfully learned to do this quickly and discreetly form having Sakura, Syaoran, and Mokona around and soon enough he was sated and lapping at the puncture wounds to encourage the healing process.

Kurogane eased them both back down on to the futon and they rested while the ninja regained his baring. Fai had no idea what it was like getting bit by a vampire—he knew there were enzymes in his saliva that caused a euphoric high, stimulating the dopamine response in his prey's brain just enough to make the experience of the actual act feel a little less like someone sucking your literal life force away.

Kurogane usually took about 15-20 minutes to recuperate. Fai drank often enough that he never had to take enough to cause any serious wooziness—so as soon as the high of the bite faded his lover would be up and about as though nothing had ever happened.

Since Yuui had come into there lives, feedings ended with Kurogane being left to rest while Fai sought out to occupy his little twin, even the half hour maybe forty-five minutes needed for a quick and dirty feed was too long to leave the nervous child alone.

Fai wasn't so sure he was ready to put his sore muscles to use just yet though and settled for forcing the smallest thread of magic to seek out the now familiar magical patterns of the tiny blonde.

His head ached in protest—not yet ready to deal with the flow of magic after the battle the other day—but he found his brother all the same. Yuui was in the courtyard with he village children. On edge but not in any serious distress.

Fai could relate. He hadn't pushed Yuui to make friends to hard—he was still settling in and trust with the other children would come. He had listened to his tiny twin relay stories of terrible tormenting from other kids who had lived in the same apartment building. He didn't blame the poor thing for being afraid.

It didn't help that Fai hadn't managed to really fit in with the people of Suwa just yet. Most of the people of this land, even Kurogane, had small amounts of magical abilities. Nothing compared to the weakest of mages from where he was from—not enough to really do more than learn to harvest the natural magic of the land and roughly shape it.

Mostly just enough to be able to tell that Fai was different—very foreign—and strong. At least Yuui was human. There was hope that he would meld into the everyday life of the province with little fuss.

The kids were weary of Fai—and so were weary of Yuui.

Maybe leaving them be would allow for the village children to see that Yuui was just like them—and Yuui could see that those kids were kind. Fai knew most of them personally and they were sweet, just like the rest of the people of there new home.

Fai was brought out of his musings by a rough kiss on the forehead from Kurogane before his lover shifted to stand.

"Go back to sleep. I'll keep Yuui out with me so you can rest ok?"

"Thanks Kuro-sama."

With fresh blood in his stomach, Fai didn't feel tired at all. Spending yesterday with a head splitting, room shaking, migraine hadn't been fun—but he had soaked up all the sleep his body would accept it seemed.

Aside from that—it was hard to get comfortable when he was covered in dried sweat anyways. He wanted a bath. To feel clean and to ease the prickling pain that danced over his skin—the better the headache got the worse his nerves endings were behaving.

He lounged a few more moments before slowly climbing to his feet. Fai gathered up all of the bedding and tossed in front of the door to wash before heading into the bathroom and drawing a bath manually, as it was currently less strenuous then using actual magic.

The water pumped up from the ground came from a deep well and was cool even in the middle of summer. Not cool enough for his liking though—Fai wanted icy cold water to help numb his skin and easy the tingly in his limbs. He grabbed a simple premade position that was kept handy with the rest of the bath saults and scented oils he had accumulated, and dumped it in. It would take a few moments for the potion to cool the water and so the blonde set about washing the rest of his body before settling into the tub.

It felt like heaven. Almost like home.

He felt magical exhaustion in a few different ways. The headaches varied in severity but were as sure a thing as rain in April. If he used to much power without a proper focus—like when he had forced strong defense spells with his left hand, while his right was busy knitting the barrier—he sometimes burned his skin. Sometimes his muscles spasmed and twitched. Sometimes, like today, he had terrible prickling nerve pain.

That feeling you got when you laid on your arm too long, and it fell asleep just right so that it felt like little needles danced across your skin any time you dared move it?

His entire body was prickling and uncomfortable and it grew painfully intense in his arms. He had shocked his system with the sudden force or using those spells he wove without a focus stone to observe the force… it had been dumb but necessary when his attention had to be divided.

The cool water numbed his skin and gave him relief from the magic induced over active nerves though. It wasn't the first time he had been through this, and it wouldn't be the last. The blond sunk down low enough in the tub so that only his neck and head were above the icy water and he lounged like that, humming to himself until the door was opened.

Yuui seemed relived to see him up and about and he managed a happy grin without his head throbbing to bad. "And how are my loves?"

"Fine." Yuui sounded tired as he leaned against the door jamb. His face was flushed red from the heat and was grimy and sweaty. So Kurogane hadn't taken it easy on him then? "What about you? Are you still sick?"

"I'm ok. Why don't you guys get in with me? The waters nice and cold." Fai teased and Kurogane gave him a skeptical look.

Fai loved cold baths in summer time. He wouldn't turn down a cold bath in winter time ether—hot baths were nice but there was nothing like the refreshing feeling of a long soak in too cold water. Even when his body wasn't rebelling against him.

"Its not like there are ice cubes in here. Jeeze Kuro-chan." Fai laughed and smiled as the ninja dipped his fingers in the cool water and grimaced.

"Yeah—only way you're getting me in that cold ass water is if you knock my out first. This ins't a war camp mage." Kurogane helped Yuui shrug out of his cloths though and helped him wash off before helping the child get safely into the deep tub.

He really should learn to have some caution when it came to temperatures and Fai.

Kurogane dropped him in and the little child shrieked. "Fai!."

Both of the adults laughed as Yuui jumped at the sudden temperature change as he sank waist deep into the water. "Were gonna freeze to death!"

"Sit down I swear you'll get used to it." Yuui took a deep breath and shook his head vigorously, teeth chattering.

"FAI! Why are you in here? Its so cold!" the tiny blonde reached out pathetically for Kurogane to lift him back out of the tub and the ninja smirked as he did so.

Yuui snatched a towel off the counter and wrapped it around his shoulders before turning his attention back to his mismatched twin who was trying to hide his giggles behind his hand.

It had been a harmless prank but his tiny twin didn't seem to be very amused.

"Its not funny! You're gonna freeze Fai!" He stamped his foot and Fai snorted. God he was painfully cute sometimes.

"This is nothing trust me. I was born in a place that was very very cold. Winter here in Nihon is like summer time in Celese—so when we wanted to go swimming the water was much colder then this." Fai smirked at the little blondes horrified look.

"Why would you go swimming then!"

Fai beamed when Kurogane tried to hide his own snickers by leaving the room and Yuui looked between the two of them as if they had each sprouted another head.

"Oi. Mage. Kids right you can't stay in there all day." Kurogane cleared his throat with a cough but even with his years of experience as a ninja he wasn't able to hide his amusement.

"Kuro-sama should leave me in my element. Besides my skin feels like its on fire. I can't manage a cooling spell without another headache, and I would much rather relax in the bath then nap the rest of the day away." Fai sunk lower in the water and sighed.

It would be nice to spend some time with those two though…

"Can't you make that shit you did in—fuck what was the name—" Kurogane ran his hand though his hair and sighed. "The one with those flying reptiles with the long beaks?"

"The ones that thought Mokona was there baby and carried him off?" Fai didn't miss Yuui's look if horror at the thought of flying monsters. "That country was called Risaeðlur. Where the people lived in the dome and we landed on the wrong side?"

"Yeah. You ended up using too much magic there too because when we tried to take Mokono back we got attacked by a flock of like a hundred of those bastards? You made some creme that helped that prickly hot feeling from you magic backlash, right?"

Fai remembered. Magic backlash wasn't something that was unique to himself—all mages were susceptible too it when they used to much magic. His symptoms weren't even severe—over use of magic was dangerous and hard on the body.

Of course, he had never had issues when he had borne Ashura's phoenix seal. He only had to worry about the normal exhaustion that came with overexertion—not that awful migraines that came from his power suddenly increasing. The pain from moving too much magic through a mortal body was something he had known since his early teens when he had finally been allowed to start war magic training.

Yuui would know it too—all of it. It was gonna suck just as bad for him as it did for Fai. He currently had pretty strong reserves, so the simple training they had done didn't drain him like it did most new pupils.

The 3-4 hours of training they did on a normal day had no negative effete on him—hopefully there would be few times in his life he would have to push himself hard enough to actually make himself sick.

It would happen eventually though, and it would be a good thing for Yuui to learn how to make something to ease his pain now. There was a little bit of Alchemy involved, but Fai could probably make few spare kits to have on hand that would just be adding the ingredients together until he was older.

Easy and fun for a child.

But getting out of the water and taking the time to actually make the salve would be… well uncomfortable.

"Earth to Fai." Kurogane tapped the top of his head and Fai threw a wide grin onto his face.

"Sorry!"

"Your brain probably isn't getting any blood because your veins are frozen from this cold water." The ninja huffed and Fai finally moved to stand.

"Really?!" Yuui's cry caused Fai to shoot Kurogane a scolding look.

"No silly. Kuro-drama is just being over the top as usual." Toweling off, Fai spilled a clean yukata on, tying it loosely so that it wouldn't irritate his skin to terribly.

The ninja snorted.

"Dramatic or no—he's right though. We can make an easy fix so I don't have to have pruny fingers all day." Fai took his brothers hand and led him across the house to the room deemed the 'medicine room' by his adorable little twin.

"—And—" Fai called loudly back across the house at his lover. "—Kuro-chan is going to get started on the laundry."

The only answer he received was a muffled curse. Kurogane was never one to shirk housework in the peaceful worlds they had landed it—but he didn't like it.

Fai closed the door behind them and helped Yuui hop up on to the stool he usually sat on while he watched Fai work. He was always sure to explain what he was doing to his little twin, and even though it was far to advanced for him to even help—Yuui loved it.

Especially when things bubbled, popped, or fizzled.

"Ok." The taller blonde pulled out a blank sheet of paper and uncapped his well of ink. "I know you know what the first thing is we have to do. Right?"

"List and measure." Yuui chirped and Fai nodded happily.

He was meticulous about his process for alchemy and potions making so even though sheets of paper like this were expensive here—Kurogane always kept him well stocked.

Yuui was still learning Celeasin script—which was different from the spell runes—so showing him the list and taking the time to write it out in front of him might seem like a waste of time—but it was an important process for him to learn.

Fai had a whole book of these lists that he would normally use—but Yuui needed to see the entire process every time to build the good habits.

"Very good. Now our goal is to come out with a salve that will absorb quickly into the skin and provide a numbing effect." Fai wrote their goal on the top of the page quickly before writing out a quick list of ingredients.

"Fai… are you hurting?" Yuui frowned at him and Fai silently continued to write for a moment while he tried to come up with a way to ease child's worries without lying about it.

He hated worrying his twin… This was just part of life and nothing to fret over.

"Its more uncomfortable little one. You know how sometimes you sit on the wood floor to long and your legs fall asleep and when you try to move them its tingly?" Fai smiled again even though those piercing blue eyes that matched his own saw right through it.

"Why does you magic make you feel like that… Why use magic at all?"

It was Fai's turn to frown… That was a hard question to answer to someone so young. It had been bothering Yuui since the battel though and it needed to be addressed eventually.

"There have been a few times in my life when I haven't been able to use magic you know." Fai set his paper aside and reached for the first ingredient on the list. Coconut oil was one of the more expensive ingredients in this room—and one of the most often used.

Carefully he measured out fourth of a cup and set it in in a clean dish at the side of the work bench before resealing the main container and setting it back on the shelf.

Yuui was quietly waiting for him to continue—to which Fai was grateful for. He had spent an unknown amount of years locked in a place where he couldn't even feel his magic—and later on when he had left his home to travel dimensions, he hadn't used magic by choice… The latter was easier to discuss. Much easier.

"One of the times that stands out to me now was when I left Celese to travel with Kurogane. There are too many underlying factors as to why—but I chose not to use my magic anymore."

"Oh…" Yuui watched Fai as he crossed the room and scooped a dried leaf out of one of the many jars that lined the far wall—all carefully labeled in scrawling Celeasian script.

"I know you know that I have very powerful magic. Just like you do right?" Fai reached for another jar that was packed tightly with dried roots—he carried that back over to the bench and weighted out how much he would need before setting that aside as well, and reshelving it. He didn't miss Yuui's wordless nod out of the corner of his eye.

"Well—powerful magic is a blessing and a curse. My magic has slowed my aging process and has kept me safe from serious disease—most consider this a blessing. I can also create powerful shields to keep the people of Suwa safe. I can use my Magic to stop a mudflow or an avalanche if my timing is right—and even though I can't use healing magic because of my power, I can infuse my magic into the medicine I make to help with symptoms when someone is sick. All these things are blessings yes?" Yuui nodded again and moved aside so Fai could grab a small pot behind him that contained small white seeds.

"Magic can also be a curse. I have had to use my magic in times of war before—to destroy homes, fields, and sometimes lives. I have seen fellow mages driven mad by power… If you use too much magic, you can make yourself sick—you can severely burn yourself if you mismanage a spell or even blow yourself up on accident… It's a big responsibility and sometimes that responsibility falls into the wrong hands. Sometimes even in the right hands, accidents happen and irreversible damage is caused." Yuui shifted uncomfortably and Fai chuckled.

"But—I think in all my years of experience I have seen that the good outweighs the bad. It took a long time for me to decide that—but I honestly believe that my magic—and yours—is a blessing. I refused to use my power at all for good or for bad when I started traveling with Kurogane… I couldn't hurt anyone sure—but there were people I could have helped that I didn't."

"But this time you got hurt. It made you sick… could you have died?" the last of the ingredients were pre-refined oils that Fai kept stocked, he carefully measured the correct amount and set them each in their own tiny dish. Keeping busy made it easy to ignore the stabbing feeling in his chest at the his sweet Yuui's words.

"The other day? No. I have you to worry about and I have years of experience when it comes to knowing my limits. If I died or was permanently injured, I don't think you or Kurogane could handle it… I pushed myself past where I would have liked to, but if it came down to it, I would have dropped the shield and thrown lethal blow before things got to that point."

Fai used a match to light the little stove verses a burst of magic and Yuui continued to scowl.

"Why didn't you do that right away then?"

That was another complicated question… Not an easy one to explain.

"It was an option. One good hit when I had first landed would have no doubt taken the dragon by surprise and if I landed it right it would have killed it. They have a weak spot at the back of their head that's easy to brake though with a sharp burst of power." Fai added water to a small pot and set it over the fire to boil.

Carefully he started to grind each of their dried ingredients into a fine dust, again by hand rather than with a spell.

"I didn't though because dragons are beautiful creatures that are born from magic. They are the guardian deity of Kurogane's family—it's not my place her to choose weather that creature lives or dies." It was a hard concept for a child he knew…

"Kurogane wanted to kill it though…" Yuui was pouting more then he was paying attention—which was fine—they had to sort this out.

"Not after he realized all it wanted was its cute little baby. Why would I kill a mother trying to protect her infant?" Yuui's brows furrowed.

"Don't get me wrong little one—It's no fun feeling this crappy. I try my best not to do it if I can—but I cannot simply trample over nature or other's lives for my benefit. A few days of being uncomfortable is nothing compared to how sad a child would feel at the loss of there mother."

"Do dragons even have feelings?"

"I have no idea." Fai laughed and the little blonde gave him another strange look. "I would rather air on the side of caution if I am able to. When I was your age, I always was told that you get what you give—or what goes around comes around." Fai handed the mortar and pestle over to Yuui to give him a turn—he was too achy for this today and the little blonde would do well with keeping his hands busy.

"Like karma?" Yuui accepted them—Fai knew he liked helping.

"Yes. It was a good thing that I didn't let that dragon attack our home by keeping the shield up—and it was a good thing that I didn't just kill it. The village is grateful that Kurogane and I protected them, and they will continue to work hard on rebuilding Suwa since they know we are here to look over them."

"What about the dragon?"

"She's leaving us alone isn't she?" Fai winked and Yuui rolled his eyes.

"I still don't like that you're hurt… I hate it." The tiny blonde seemed to be putting his anger into his task and those herbs were quickly becoming powdered.

"I know—I don't like to worry you and I don't like to be hurt." Luckily it didn't happen often. "Soon enough though you will be able to help me. Double the power half the chance that someone will end up with backlash right?"

"Really?" Yuui brightened and Fai smiled softly.

"Of course. If you work hard at your lessons, there is nothing stopping you from being able to protect the ones you love." Fai thought back to the conversation he had had with Kurogane not that long ago about how far he was willing to train Yuui… If Yuui decided he wanted to become a master spell weaver—Fai would teach him.

Even if it left less time for snuggles…

Already they were going to be traveling to an unknown world with unknown dangers within a year—They were going to have to be stricter with his lessons.

"I got to learn a little bit about fighting from the other kids in the village while Kurogane fixed your eyes… And then I stayed for the rest of the lesson." Yuui was still smiling and presented Fai with the freshly powdered dry ingredients.

It made him happier then the child could ever imagen to here that. It was fine if for now all Yuui wanted was to be near him—but Fai knew that if the tiny twin was going to heal his heart form the life he led before coming to Suwa, he would need to branch out past Fai and Kurogane.

He had taken his fist steps in doing so today.

"You can start going to every lesson if you want. Learning how to use a sword will help you. Martial training is part of magic as well." Fai dumped the coconut oil base into the boiling water and stirred it while it melted. He waited till it was bubbling away before adding the powdered ingredients to cook down.

"Did you learn how to fight with a sword when you were training to be a war mage?" Yuui seemed to forget his feelings of distress and was practically wiggling in his seat with excitement.

"The swords here in Nihon are different from the swords in Celese. Where I am from, they are heavier and sharp on both sides… I got a basic training with a sword to understand how to counter them but they're not my cup of tea."

"Oh… So you just use magic?" Yuui seemed slightly disappointed

Mostly. Fai had been tutored in how to use a bow, a staff, a spear, as well as hand to hand. His focus was on magic, but he was considered skilled with all of them. Just not the sword…

"Not at all. I had to learn how to do a little bit of everything incase I was ever not able to use magic. Not to mention as a court mage I often had to participate in tournaments at festivals. Sparing with all sorts of weapons is a popular sport in Celese."

Celese was almost constantly at war—it wasn't war torn—but war united. It had been for many many years and fighting was part of Celesian culture at its roots.

"Like for fun?"

"Yeah. I know that probably sounds strange hm?" Yuui nodded but didn't question it further.

It was hard to imagen Yuui following Kurogane and becoming an apt swordsman one day—but if it made him happy Fai would support him. He had chosen a magical staff as a fledgling because that's what he had been best at—but there had been members of the court mages who used a sword to focus there power.

"I—had a lot of fun today at the lesson." Yuui admitted as though he was afraid of being reprimanded and Fai felt his heart ache.

He was supposed to have fun. He was a child.

"Good! Did you make any friends?" Fai watched Yuui's ears turn pink as he shrugged his shoulders.

"No one was mean to me… My—My only friend was Fai so… I'm not sure…" the tiny blonde started to kick his feet.

Poor thing…

"I think they will be your friends in no time. It's not something to worry about now—it will come with time." The children had been curious about Yuui—but Fai had been trying not to push the little blonde to hard.

"They um… They asked me if you were a Yosei… if we were…"

"A Yosei?" Fairy… Fairy's in japan were nothing like Fairy's in Celese. Fai had first been called a Yosei in the capital by the servants—his strange appearance and magic had thrown everyone for a loop. "Did that hurt your feelings?"

Fai had been called worse so he hadn't cared in the slightest—his Japanese hadn't been good enough to correct them back then and Kurogane could only deny that silly rumor so many times before they realized it was a losing battle.

"No. I just told them that we're just normal people. They thought so because our hair and eyes…" Yuui watched Fai as he started to stir their little mixture—as more of the water cooked off it was important that the stir it so it wouldn't burn.

"Yes. It's a strange but harmless rumor. If anyone else asks you that just say they same thing. They aren't used to foreigners here." That name was harmless—some of the other names he had been called were less so—and he was going to do his best to shelter Yuui from those words until he was older.

0o0o0

 **I am having serious beta reading issues fam. I'm just going to write and do my best on my own so please excuse any errors. I would rather get this posted then continue to sit on it for any longer.**

 **If anyone has time to beta read between 10-20 pages a week shoot me a message!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Tsubasa**

0o0o0

Kurogane shot to his feet before the noise that had woken him had even registered, and he was looking for his two idiots in a slight panic. It was too fucking early for explosions…

He found said idiots all right—a slide of a soji door revealed them on the far side of garden safe and sound. The only this amiss was a sparking blue forcefield filled with smoke and a frowning child.

Magic training.

The bright side about being woken up by an explosion was that his mage must be feeling better to be using magic freely again. It had taken him a while to recover after the battle with the dragon and he was starting to worry.

Last night catching a mismanaged spell would have been too much for him—he had still been clutching his head in pain anytime he dared used his power to so much as light a candle. Yuui had been patient when it came to his lessons while his brother recuperated, but he had been asking when they might be able to continue working on that stupid shield. He didn't know why the hell the squirt was frowning considering magic lessons were the only thing that made him smile so early in the morning.

And god was it early… to early for fucking explosions if you asked him.

There was no way in hell he would be able to go back to sleep with all that noise, so he settled for watching. He wasn't usually home when they had their lessons and now that they were past perfecting random squiggles—it was pretty interesting to watch.

He had been watching Fai use magic for years—and it was interesting to watch him teach the tiny blonde the complicated ins and outs of spell weaving.

"Again Yuui. Talk me through it." Fai paid Kurogane no mind as the ninja plopped down on the porch to observe from what he hoped to be a safe distance.

The ninja raised an eyebrow at them when he noticed that they looked as though they had been up for a while. Somehow those two had managed to get up and dressed without so much as waking him. Again.

Mages…

"Ok." Yuui straitened into a stance he had seen Fai use when he took the support role in battle. Legs about a foot apart, the right foot about a half foot in front of the left, one arm at his side and the other lifted in front of himself.

Normally Fai would hold his hand out with his palm open, now that he had his magic staff back, he held that that in front of his body instead.

Yuui was using an open palm now though—he didn't have a staff just yet.

"Draw a steady steam of magic down and out though the fingertips—" Yuui shifted his hand slowly so that he was pointing with a single finger, the rest closing and forming a loose fist. "—tverdyy—" the little blonde drew a solid rune in front of him. "—stena—" another rune joined the fist. "—and sokhraneniye—" a third rune and Yuui took a deep breath.

Kurogane watched the kid squint in concentration and slowly fanned his fingers out so that his palm was again open.

"Solid. Wall. Protection." Yuui repeated in Japanese and Fai nodded at him—a stern expression.

"Keep going. We know you can draw and hold the runes little one." Fai's own position mirrored Yuui's—ready to catch any mishaps with his own shield no doubt.

Kurogane focused on his mages face, he didn't see that expression on Fai's face often. Too serious… If he didn't know better, he would assume the idiot was mad or there was something wrong.

Fai was never overly serious.

"tverdyy—first weave a solid mass—into stena like a wall—then our intent—sokhraneniye…" Yuui said as he continued to frown in concentration. "Once we weave tverdyy and stena—the use sokhreneniye with a burst of raw energy to make our intent materialize."

"Correct. Once you weave the spell you ignite it with your intent. Your will has been weak—and your overcompensating with power. Remember you need to protect—to much power will cause it to explode and you damage what you're trying to save." Yuui nodded and took a few more deep breaths.

There was a long moment of quite before there was a burst of light followed by a loud bang that left the ninja's ears ringing.

The same spell that had taken the kid nearly 3 minutes to create and explode took his mage less then a second to fully materialize. Easily catching the raw power before it had a chance to cause any damage at all.

Good thing too because that looked like it could have leveled the fucking house.

It was only slightly terrifying to know that a kid could have so much raw energy that he could accidently level a house while learning. Fai was on top of it though.

"I did it again! I'm sorry Fai!" Yuui had been knocked back from the force of his spell and picked himself up off the dirt before rubbing at unshed tears.

"That's ok. Again. From the top." The older twin dispelled his shield and the remints of smoke drifted onto the ground the earlier mistake forgotten.

Yuui did as he was instructed and ran though his narrative again—drawing the runes and explaining their meaning—the same outcome—another explosion. Fai didn't even bat an eye lash before helping the tiny blonde to his feet and telling him to try again.

It went on like that for a while—and Kurogane was sure he was going to get ptsd from waiting for Yuui to cause the next explosion. It took anywhere from seconds to minutes and the ninja jumped every god damn time.

Fai didn't though.

Kurogane made a mental note to ask the idiot about it later. Fai was usually the jumpier of the two of them but maybe he was used to this? Yuui probably wasn't his first student given his ability to explain an abstract concept easily to a frustrated child.

After the 15 or 16 failed attempt Fai offered his brother a reassuring smile. "You're doing very well Yuui. Don't worry about it. It's all about trial and error. Soon this will be second nature and you won't have to think of the runes or intent—your magic will just do it."

"We're done for today aren't we?" Yuui frowned and wrapped his arms around his stomach—disappointed.

"Yes. Its breakfast time then we need to get ready to modify the barrier and make the necessary repairs. It's a good chance for you to practice riding on your own." Fai lifted the child up and carried him towards the house—leaving no room for protest.

"Morning Kuro-chan!" Fai chirped as he passed the ninja and pranced into the house, his mood shifting from serious instructo,r to plain old silly Fai. Yuui waved from over his shoulder as they disappeared around the corner and Kurogane was left shaking his head.

What was he gonna do with those two?

He took his sweet time getting to the kitchen and found Yuui sitting at his usual spot at the dining room table and Fai looking though the cupboards and humming as he selected ingredients in an annoyingly domestic fashion. The ex-ninja watched him for a moment, not sure where Fai got his endless energy from these days.

"Kuro-chan do you think we can go to the big market in—shoot. The one on the other side of the mountain in…"

"Kai? No Takeda's lands are too dangerous for Yuui." Kurogane sat down across the squirt who was still sulking. Presumably about Fai not letting him try at this spell a little longer—but it may also be the fact that that Fai was in one of those moods that seemed to drive everyone up the wall with his false positivity—even his twin.

"Is there another market like that we can take Yuui to without going all the way to the coast?"

Kai was a neighboring province and the Shogun was a real piece of work. Lord Takeda had butt heads with Kurogane's own father—and he butt heads with Kurogane now that he had taken over as lord Suwa. His hate for Kurogane had transferred over to a strong dislike for Fai—even though most of the other province lords found him strangely charming."

Just a generation ago their clans faced each other on the battle field and Suwa had claimed a large amount of territory form the former lord of Kai. He was still salty about it apparently. Takeda had been young when he had taken over for his father, and eager to prove himself in battle—it had been foolish to challenge Suwa however and Kurogane's own father had taught the idiot a lesson by claiming a fourth of his fathers lands before prying a surrender out of him.

Kurogane didn't give a shit about the feud between there families and he had made that obvious when Amaterasu had gathered the province lords together to announce that he was going to retake up his father's lands and retire from his position as Tomoyo's body guard. All the lands that his father had claimed were his again at the Mikado's order.

Takeda wasn't salty about that—he was fucking furious and had done everything but openly declare war on the Suwa clan. It would be frowned upon considering that that clan was one whole member strong—since they didn't count Fai anyways.

Fai had been kept busy with negotiations with the Kai province and knew that lord Takeda wouldn't think twice about harming a defenseless child like Yuui. They had met more then a few asshats on their travels and Fai was well versed at spotting an A class douche bag. Neither of them were foolish enough to risk taking a naïve child like Yuui to such a place.

It was what it was—and there were other markets. Maybe not as nice—but he could make a trip to the capital to get what ever they needed once he got his new arm.

"Depends what you need. We can get almost anything at the capital and it's a little over a day's ride." Well—a days ride for him or Fai. Yuui would mean they would need to ride slow and take brakes—so he would most likely leave the mismatched twins at home for the sake of time.

Fai tried not to transport around Nihon to much since it disrupted the natural flow of magic in the land and stirred the demons—he only did it on the rare occasions when there was immediate danger, like when the dragon had come knocking on there door.

"No… I was hoping that because Kai is all mountainy that I would be able to find a focus stone for Yuui to start working with."

Yeah… that wasn't something he could just pick up for his mage.

"We're going to have to meet with Tomoyo before we have to leave to run the witch's errand. We can look at the capital then—if not we can see about sending you to Kai with a few guards." Fai brought tea over to the table for them and both Yuui and Kurogane accepted gratefully.

"You know I am stronger then all of your men combined right?" Fai didn't sound annoyed in the slightest at the mention of needing guards. The bastard was amused.

"Yeah well you're pretty much the equivalent of a Suwa's priest so I can't just let you go on your own. You have to worry about your stupid image as much as I worry about mine." Fai knew it too. Usually when They fought Fai was the one who focused on defense—but when they left Suwa to meet with his fellow War lords Kurogane guarded Fai just as his father had guarded his mother.

That's just what you did here. Idiot didn't complain—hell Kurogane was pretty sure he liked being fawned over in public.

The ninja hadn't been sure how Fai was going to fit into life in Nihon when he had asked him to live here. He expected to get a hell of a lot more pushback for having a male lover at his side if he was honest. In a strange turn of events about 80% of the people they met thought Fai was some sort of other worldly being. That assumption somehow made it fine that he was a man. A very feminine man—but still obviously male.

It didn't change their expectation that he should be guarded like any other priest or priestess. It didn't matter that Fai had demonstrated his terrifying strength and battle prowess on several occasions ether…

Tomoyo had introduced him to the lords of Nihon with his proper Celeseian titles too—which were pretty freakin specific. Prince Fai D. Fluorite of Celese, Head War Wizard in the Court of King Ashura of Celese, the God Kissed Champion of the Common People, Court Mage, Phoenix Marked, World Walker, and Keeper of the Art of Minipulyatsiya Uma.

Kurogane had been surprised the princess was able to pull that information out of him considering his mage had just wanted to be plain old Fai—the goofy wizard who called Kurogane dumb nicknames. Fai had looked like he wanted to die as he named off the titles and helped Tomoyo pronounce the words that didn't directly translate.

He hadn't pressed as to how Fai had gotten some of the more interesting titles like god kissed, or keeper of whatever the hell. Fai wanted to be just Fai—So Kurogane let him when he could.

That long list of titles along with the regal way his mage carried himself cemented his highborn status and he was treated as such. His terrifying magical presence was picked up by every priest and priestess—and they passed that along to all of the war lords.

Fai was a hell of a fighter and there was no doubt that the most skilled of warrior from the Takeda clan wouldn't be able overpower him. Physically Fai didn't look too tough but between his vampire blood and magic he was possible the strongest being in all of Japan.

He didn't need any guards but since he played the role of Suwa's priest it was only proper that he not leave without a full guard of at least 4 warriors. Others would assume that Kurogane was dishonoring him otherwise—and they couldn't show that kind of internal strife. Badass or not—whenever they visited the capital or another Shogan—Fai was treated like an honored, delicate guest and offered a room to rest in after the long ride.

"I just don't want to make them feel bad when we get attacked and I save them instead of the other way around like last time.'' Fai smirked over his shoulder before refocusing his attention on the food sizzling away on the stove.

"Yeah well, try not to get attacked moron. That sort of thing could start a war that we don't have the time to fight." They had a year from the date he got his new arm—and they didn't have the resources for a fair war. They couldn't afford to lose ether, which meant he and Fai would have to get creative… it was best avoided.

All they would need was for the silly stories if Fai being a Yosei transform into something more sinister… or his fellow lords start to fear Kurogane possessed by some demon… His Youthful follies at the capital had been forgiven—not forgotten by any means.

"You're right… We'll try the capital first Kuro-chan." Kurogane sighed and sipped his tea before noticing that Yuui was scowling at him fiercely now—distracted from his pouting by there conversation.

"What?"

"There could be a war?" The kid didn't seem to like that idea one bit and Kurogane couldn't blame the twerp.

He liked a good fight—but chances were that the war would be fought on Suwan soil and they didn't exactly have any army.

"No. We wont let that happen." Fai voice was firm as he answered but Yuui didn't look convinced. "The Mikado wouldn't allow such a thing to happen—We're still under her protection."

"Oh… So why did you say we don't have time for it?" His worried gaze shifted from his brother to the ex-ninja and Kurogane sighed. They were going to wait to tell Yuui about their trip until closer to the date they left. Fai was worried it would just be something for him to get anxious over—and he was already anxious enough as it was.

"Well we have to go on a trip here soon." Fai answered for him.

"Like a vacation?"

"Something like that." Kurogane almost snorted.

Some vacation it was gonna be…

"Why are we going?" Yuui sure as heck was full of questions. Kurogane sipped his tea—he was his mages brother, so he would let him decide how much to tell him.

"We promised to run an errand for a friend in exchange for them getting Kuro-sama a new arm since he fed the other one to the dragon."

"—I didn't feed it to the dragon dammit!"

"—but we have a lot to do before we can go and not much time to do it, so a war is something were going to avoid at all costs." Yuui started to figit nervously and Fai tossed a smile over his shoulder. "Don't worry—Like I said the Mikado has us under her protection, so we don't really have to worry about all this war business. Just getting our affairs in order so that things run smoothly while were away."

"What kind of errand is it?"

"We don't know." Fai chirped and brought the food over to the table. "We get more details closer to the time we leave."

"Where are we going?" Yuui took a big bite of his food as soon as the question was posed. At least if he was nervous, he wasn't too nervous to eat. The tot had a tendency to get so tied up that he lost his appetite.

He wasn't sure why the hell Fai was talking about his like it was a fucking family vacation—but at least he wasn't freaking Yuui out about something that was a year off. A year was a long ass time for someone so young.

"We don't know that ether. A different dimension for sure so I won't be able to monitor the barriers around Suwa from that far away. We have one year to set our defenses and such so Kuro-sama and I are going to be very busy getting ready."

"Oh…" the tiny blonde took another bite of food and the scowl returned to his face.

"Don't worry little one. It just means you get to come with us to the capital and we have to work twice as hard to get a few useful spells under your belt. That's why we need a focus stone."

"Oh!" With that the nervous energy dissipated—the idea of getting to learn no magic did the trick. No doubt it all sounded exciting to a kid that age—and that's how it should be. Kurogane wanted the twerp to leave the worrying to the adults and enjoy being a kid while it lasted.

"So—you have to practice your riding. We can't be gone too long and you're going to need to get comfortable with riding long distances at faster paces." The child's excitement disappeared again.

It was no secret that Yuui was afraid to ride alone. The first time he had seen a horse had been in Suwa—and the few times he had ridden it had been with ether Kurogane himself or the mage. He had purchased a gentle gelding with a smooth gait for Yuui a few weeks back to learn how to ride and the little blonde hadn't even worked up the courage to even go out to the barn and see him just yet.

So far, his mage had been understanding at the child's dislike for the large animals and hadn't made him help with their care. Fai was making it pretty clear he was going to do it today whether he wanted to or not now that the circumstances had changed.

"What if I fall off?"

"Then you get back on." Fai grinned and sipped his own tea.

"What if I brake something?"

"Then you get to wear a cast for a few months and your bones heal stronger, so they won't break the next time you fall off." Yuui took another bite of his food and pouted.

Fai usually babied the shit out of him. Kurogane never expected his mage to make his tiny twin do anything he didn't want to do—it was good to see that he was encouraging him to grow rather then hide from his insecurities.

"Is Kurogane going to come too?" Yuui mumbled with his mouth full.

"I don't know. Does Kuro-chan want to check the barriers with me today?" the older blonde smiled at him and the ninja shrugged.

Might as well. He was getting stir crazy waiting for Fuuma to show with his new arm.

"You think you'll make it to all the key points in a single day?" That was unlikely. They had set the damn thing up over a period of a week at least. With Yuui slowing them down it would take longer then that now.

"Nope. Just the three that have been affected from patching the barrier during our visit from Mrs. Dragon. Once I fix the last of the cracks, I'll modify the entire defense spell to better protect against scaly friends." Kurogane nodded.

They could get there and back before dark at a leisurely pace—and Yuui could see some of the countryside that surrounded his new home. The village was occupied mostly by his warriors and their families—but there were farms all over the country side surrounding Suwa and branching out to the edge of the province.

With apparently no more questions, the entire table focused on there meal. Yuui continued to pout as Fai had him change out of his Yukata and into a pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. His pouting got worse as Fai made him put sunscreen on his exposed skin and put his shoes on. He was practically dragging when Fai made him tack his own horse.

"What if I do it wrong?" Kurogane ignored the brothers while he got his own horse ready—which took most of his focus as he was still down an arm. He had brought him to Suwa from the capital when he had moved—and he had been working with his steed since before he left on his journey. This year would probably be there last year riding in to battle together—poor thing was getting to old to spend his days rough riding any more.

He would do well for simple patrolling and joy riding though.

"I won't let you do it wrong. You need to learn how to do this Yuui. I know you think riding is scary, but you need to at least try." Fai demonstrated on his own mount.

Fai's horse had also followed him from the capital. The pure white stallion was completely deff—something that Fai had sought out purposefully. Less likely to spook when Fai started throwing exploding runes and perfect for a magic user. He was a real asshat though and fought Fai every step of the way for control—another trait Fai had wanted.

Yuui watched Fai brush the horse quickly and efficiently. "Your mount is your partner while you travel—you work together to get where you're going, and you have to take good care of them. You want to brush off dirt that can rub and make them uncomfortable just like this. Get there back, sides, and tummy."

Yuui cautiously mimicked Fai on his own chestnut gelding as though the animal might actually try and eat him if he touched it. "Good job! Press a little harder to really get that dirt—you won't hurt him."

Kurogane doubted the twerp was worried about hurting it—he was pretty sure Yuui still didn't believe that horses were strict herbivories from the way he avoided getting anywhere near its head.

The child continued to be overly careful, but Fai didn't seem the least bit annoyed at how long this was taking. "Ok. So, Nihon saddles are annoyingly complicated. Pay attention." Fai didn't like the gunjingura they used—he thought they were overly complicated and a waste of time.

Through all the worlds they had visited they had used a lot of different types of saddles. Kurogane preferred ones that were just like the ones from Nihon—he was used to riding with his legs strait and having a saddle the helped smooth the ride, so he didn't have to worry about it.

Fai liked to have more freedom of movement and preferred something simpler like the saddles in Celese. His favorites had short stirrups that kept his knees bent in a 90 degree angle and allowing him to essentially stand in the saddle when he wanted to. It made it easier to aim magical attacks.

Kurogane had gotten Yuui a traditional gunjingura to start with. He could get a custom one once he learned what he preferred. It would hopefully make him feel more secure and less likely to fall as they built speed though—even though he was likely going to end up with a fighting style similar to his brother.

Fai showed him how to properly layer the saddle and made him hook every one of the buckles and straps himself before double checking that it was secured properly. Kurogane hadn't bothered to get Yuui a pony—and while his horse was smaller than then his own or Fai's—Yuui still needed to be lifted into the saddle.

Fai tacked and saddled his own mount much faster. They had gotten him a custom ordered saddle when they had bought his horse. There was no Shirigai, Shiode or hadazuke. There wasn't even a Kurabane. They had had to order the damn thing from an importer from the west to get ahold of it.

Rather then having many pieces that were layered, Fai's saddle was almost a one and done save for the straps that wrapped around the steed's chest. The bridal was a little more complicated, but it only took Fai a minute to wrestle it on to his horse before he slung himself into the saddle with practiced ease.

Kurogane took Yuui's reins and handed them to the older blonde before getting himself situated. "We'll start with me leading for now Yuu. When you're more comfortable I'll pass these back ok?"

Kurogane fallowed them out of the barn and they started at a leisurely pace up the road towards the town—the twerp holding onto the front pummel for dear life as though he would fall at any moment.

Riding with one arm was a pain in the ass so he didn't mind the snail's pace anywhere near as much as their horses did. Fai usually left his mount out in the pasture during the day while Kurogane rode his own almost every day on patrol. They were not used to being held back—and it was a struggle to keep them at a simple walk as they ambled up the road.

Kurogane had never had to teach a new rider—and could hardly remember learning how to ride himself. His father had had him in the saddle from the time he was old enough to balance and hold on to the reins… he had gone through a few ponies—outgrowing them before moving on his first horse.

He had no idea why the hell the squirt was afraid of them—but the further they walked the more comfortable he became with the gentle rocking of the horse's gate which was at least progress.

They passed though the town with little notice from the adults—and the few kids that were playing in the street waved happily at them as they passed. Yuui and smiled back—not quite ready to risk lifting a hand away from the pummel. As they made there way outside of the town both Fai and Kurogane kept a close eye out for any trouble—bandits or demons—while they made there way though the bamboo forest. Once that was cleared the rest of the ride would be through open fields with a 360 view.

Wisely Fai waited until they were out in the open and safe from a sneak attack before stopping their party and handing Yuui his own reins.

"What if he doesn't listen?" Yuui was almost shaking as he held the leather straps tightly in his hands.

"He's been a good boy so far—horses are pack animals you don't need to worry about him carrying you off. He will just follow whoever is in front unless you tell him otherwise." Fai hopped back up on his own horse and smiled at the nervous blonde. "You got this. Right Kuro-chan?"

"Yeah you're fine. Everyone learns how to do this. Just takes getting used to." Kurogane's words didn't seem to reassure Yuui anymore then his twins had, and they allowed him to take a few deep breaths before they continued.

Fai sent them forward again with a small kick of his heels and they both smiled as the squirt actually whined when his horse started walking forward at the same leisurely pace. Fai did what he did best and started chattering happily to get his mind off what was going on—and it worked sorta.

It took impressively long to reach the edge of the barrier where the Dragon had attacked, and Yuui practically jumped into Fai's arms to get off the beast.

All and all the trip was pretty freaking uneventful. Fai did his magic mumbo jumbo and they walked there asses back home.

0o0o0

Fai hated being strict with Yuui and pushing him out of his comfort zone. It was twice as hard since he could actually feel the poor things magic buzzing with anxiety as they ran their errand. He had to learn though—they would be going to the capital soon and Yuui needed to be able to ride on his own in case they were attacked.

Not all lands were protected by a barrier and they may run into a strong demon. There was also a possibility that they might run into highway men or members of an enemy clan. Fai need full range of his movements if that happened—as would Kurogane.

This was something they didn't have time to wait on. Yuui had been skittish of the horses even when he was riding with his brother or Kurogane—he just wasn't used to being around big animals. He would learn that they were normally pretty docile and sweet creatures—easy to lead and willing to work hard for there keep.

Hopefully a few trips without incident would show him that his worries were misplaced. Kurogane had chosen a sweet gelding for Yuui to learn with—ill-suited for battle—but submissive and gentle for someone learning.

Learning would be easy for Yuui once he got over his fear. Fai didn't bother lecturing him on posture or technique. He decided they would just focus on not being terrified of falling off and making a short trip without braking.

When they reached the barrier Fai apported his staff with a burst of his will and Yuui finally seemed distracted from his fears as a long ribbon of runes sprung forth from the fluorite focus stone.

"Pay attention Yuui—feel the magic as it interacts with the existing barrier carefully." The ward that surrounded Suwa was a complicated combination of a few different spells and techniques. He had designed it to mimic the kekkeis that the priests and priestesses used to keep the demons out and blend with the natural magical flows of the land.

Tomoyo had tired to teach him how to do a traditional Kekkei but they just weren't practical. They put unnecessary strain on the user's body and were honestly not that strong. That dragon would have broken right though it as though it were a wet tissue…

There was no reason for something like this barrier in Celese—they didn't have demons to worry about and any mage worth their weight could batter their way through one given enough time. So, he had been forced to think outside of the box and try a few different things before he came up with a practical solution and get the most bang for his buck. The closest thing to a kekkei in Celese were the shields maintained around the war camps to shelter it from accidental friendly fire and were anchored with large focus stones.

He had used that spell as his base as it was the only real set it and forget it spell he knew of a defensive nature. His shields were nothing to sneeze at—but that wasn't because he had any special aptitude towards them. He could shove enough power into a defensive shield to withstand almost any attack sure, but his training as a war mage gave him a large repertoire of offensive spells of different nature, including translocation magic and seek spells. His range of defense spells was smaller, and most were flexible, quick and dirty just like the one he was working on with Yuui.

They had used natural land marks as anchor points—things that were closely tied with the magic of the land and were strong enough to not be damaged by the spell, but also helped to blend Fai's foreign power with the natural magic.

Mostly old trees that had been growing for at least a century. On the east side of Suwa they used foot hills, and to the west they used the river.

Once they had chosen anchor points it had been as simple as weaving the spell into each of the anchors and igniting it from the center anchor that was the Sakura tree in the inner courtyard of the Suwa estate. The actual defense was complicated mess of runes that specified what could and could not pass though the barrier—also how strong the shield was when it came into contact with something that was a threat.

He had crafted it to keep out known threats—not dragons.

Tweaking that meant that he was going to have to go to each and everyone of the anchors and reweave his spell before pushing it though at the Suwa estate.

That would probably take days though—and in the meantime the spell would be unstable. Once it was up though, he would simply refresh the shield once a day just like before. The hardest part was getting it set so he could forget.

This spell was still far to advance for Yuui to fully understand let alone weave himself. The best way to learn was to look at what others did though—to feel their control and try and mimic. At its base the barrier spell was very similar to the one Yuui was working on.

Instead of being actively held by a person it was fed with natural magic of the land though—instead of not allowing anything at all to pass there were runes added to the spell to dictate what could and could not pass though. At there core they were extremely similar though.

Fai waited until he felt Yuui's magic reach out to passively sense the barrier as well as the spell Fai held ready.

"It's even harder now…" Yuui was squinting in concentration… "You added more rule runes?"

"I did." Fai waited another moment as Yuui's magic gently touched the damaged barrier and gasped.

"Oh no… It's full of cracks…" Those cerulean eyes that matched his own shot open and gave him a serious look. "I didn't think… something existed that was big enough to…"

"I didn't think there was in this world—but we'll fix it now that we know. Feel the way these spells interreact in harmony now while I weave them together." It wasn't often that Fai consciously thought about that magic he was using unless he was world walking—but he had to close his own eyes and carefully knit the damaged spell back together while intertwining the new rules as well.

After nearly ten minutes the last of the runes laced into the barrier and the repairs were complete. With a flick of his wrist he banished his staff back to where he usually kept it in the house and turned attention back to pupil.

"Is that as hard as magic gets?" Yuui was still feeling the defense spell—pocking at it and feeling as it pushed back against him.

"No. One day you will learn how to rip and sew the fabric of dimensions—not just your own spells." World walking took massive amounts of power to tear your way in and out of a dimension—and serious skill to meld it back together after you had passed though.

Only the strongest and most skilled of magic uses could do this on their own—and an even smaller number of those could manage to do it more than once…

The little blonde frowned and Fai chuckled. It probably seemed crazy—he had thought so when he had first started feeling the powerful magic the king and the court mages used without batting and eye lash. Control came with time.

"We have a few more spots to get to though. Are you ready to get going?" They didn't have much time to lose if they were going to at least patch all the weak spots before the sun went down and it became dangerous for them to be out with Yuui.

"Yeah…" a small determined nod was offered, and Fai kicked his horse into a mild trot.

Yuui yelped but didn't protest as they started off down a side road that would lead to there next destination. The terrain was easy enough—but Fai was happy that both he and Kurogane were here to keep an eye on his little twin while they strolled along.

When Yuui seemed to get the hang of going with the flow of the horse's smooth gate rather than fighting it—Fai increased there pace a bit more.

Yuui was still holding on to the pummel with both hands, reins loose, allowing his horse to have control as it followed Fai's mount. He was at least comfortable enough to look around at their surroundings—and see some of the fields, wildlife, and farms that decorated the country side.

They reached the next anchor in less then half an hour and Fai dismounted to inspect he old oak tree. This one had been further from the place the dragon had tired to crash through their defenses—but even this far away there was damage from the stress of the repeated blows.

Fai once again summoned his staff and let loose a furry of sparking spell runes that knit there way into the existing barrier and tied the loose ends back together carefully—smoothing the rough edges down until they were no longer detectable.

The next anchor was an old shrine that sat at the end of the hardly used road and was reached in another hour at their modest pace—the good news was that they could cut though the fields and end up at the back of the estate pretty easily.

The terrain was a little rougher, but it wasn't like they were going to be jumping over fallen trees—just a few small hills and uneven ground. Fai didn't push them past a trot and they were home within an hour—unscathed from the trip.

Yuui was tired from the outing but untacked and took care of his own horse without complaint. While he wouldn't admit out loud that it hadn't been that bad after all—Yuui pet his horse's nose and told him good night before following the adults into the house.

He and Kurogane had shared an amused smile at the child's actions before heading in for a late lunch. Yuui still took naps most afternoons and feel asleep at the dining room table, leaning forward to rest his head on crossed arms while he snoozed.

After lunch they would work on his magic a for another hour or two and probably try to get in some time memorizing more runes until it was time for dinner. Kurogane would probably be board out of his mind and make himself busy polishing Ginryuu or reading through his manga collection.

All in all, a quiet day—Fai was going to enjoy them while they lasted. He had a feeling this year was going to fly by and he the next year would be full of stress. Yuuko was always stress…

If only Kurogane hadn't fed his arm to Mrs. Dragon…

Lunch was a simple soup—a clear broth and plenty of root vegetables and rice. Kurogane never complained about his cooking if he wasn't force fed sweets, and they had had slight variations on this same meal since they had first started traveling together.

Fai liked soup a lot—it was impossible to mess up and it reminded him of home. It was also easy to reheat and eat as left overs and made the entire house smell pleasant.

His little twin woke without a fuss to eat and they were just finishing up when Fai sensed a strong wave of magic rip past them.

Yuui frowned instantly and looked to Fai with worried eyes. "What was that?"

"A guest." They were expecting Fuuma any time now, so Fai wasn't alarmed at all as he stood and went to the front door. Fuuma was looking around a little dazed as he balanced the glass container containing the prosthetic arm over one of his shoulders.

"Well long time no see! Come on in." The blond offered a kind smile and motioned towards the door. "I hope you're hungry."

Fuuma returned his smile with a grin of his own before doing just that. Fai didn't miss how Yuui looked at him with impossibly wide eyes, or the fact that he had crawled into the ninja's lap.

"How could I refuse your food Fai. Everything you make is delicious." Fuuma offered a wave with his free arm to Kurogane and Yuui as he toed off his shoes and followed Fai further into the house before sitting down.

"Well I'm glad you like it.." Fai kept himself busy with making fresh tea and reheating the soup so that it was steaming.

"I don't think we've met before." Fuuma turned his perfect smile to his tiny twin who hid his face in Kurogane's neck.

He was painfully shy sometimes, but not usually like this around adults. Not with both he and the ninja there to keep him safe… Of course—Kurogane was not fond of Fuuma and was glaring daggers at him like always.

"This is Yuui." Fai offered as he poured their guest a cup of tea. "He's a little on the shy side today it seems."

"That's quite alright. Its nice to meet you Yuui." Fuuma accepted the cup gratefully before turning his attention to the ninja who wasn't doing anything to discourage the clingy child. "How have you both been since the last time I saw you? Has it been a while or you both as well?"

Fai smirked. Time had flowed differently for them both no doubt, but it really hadn't been that long—the last time they had seen Fuuma was just before they had left the capital. They had definitely made prosthetics last longer before.

"Fine." Kurogane grunted—glaring slightly harder as their guest laughed off his cranky response.

"What did it this time if you don't mind me asking?"

"Kuro-tan fed his arm to a dragon this time. Can you belie—"

"Dammit Mage—"

Fuuma barked out a short laugh, easily amused by there bickering. "Even now that you guys are settling down you still get in to the dardest situations."

"Yeah well it sure as hell isn't on purpose." Kurogane ran a hand up and down Yuui's back and sighed. "What about you and your damn brother? Still chasing those vampire twins?"

"I haven't seen them since acid Tokyo and last I knew Seshiro was no closer to catching them ether."

Good. Fai owed those two his life and he hoped they never got caught. He had no idea what Seshiro wanted with poor Subaru but even Fai was weary of him—he was usually a pretty good judge of character.

"You ready to try this baby out Kurogane?" Fuuma placed his hand on the latch that was holding the glass cylinder closed and waited for the ninja to nod before unlatching it.

Fai stood to take Yuui who didn't seem to mind being passed to his twin. This arm attached the same way as the last few—it clung to the scar tissue that had healed years ago and cause the ninja to shiver as the advanced technology linked with his natural nerves to allow him to control the artificial limb. It took only moments for Kurogane to be able to flex the joints and curl his fingers into a tight fist.

"How does it feel?" Fai smiled at his lover who rolled his shoulder a few times grimacing at the movement. Normally when they got him a new arm it tended to fit a little better then the last, but it was usually sore for a few days.

"It's sensitive—more than the last was that's for sure." Well—that wasn't bad at least. Some time to adjust and he would be fighting at his usual strength in no time.

They could spar and help him fine tune his control over the next few days.

"Thank you for bringing it to us Fuuma." Fai handed Yuui back to Kurogane and the little blonde went back to shyly hiding his face in the ex-ninjas neck.

Those two were just to precious.

Fai didn't get to host guests in Suwa very often—and since both his twin and Kurogane seemed less then interested in socializing—the older blonde put on his friendliest smile and chattered away with Fuuma to fill the awkward silence.

0o0o0

 **So I am still working on the outline for this bad boy and keep changing my mind for whats going to happen once they leave next year! Each time I change it I get even more excited. I would love to hear your suggestions/guesses for what we might do to help get some practical skills under Yuui's belt! We still have until chapter 15 and a lot of Fluffy family goodness and silly bickering before that though which I am also pumped about.**

 **If any of you are interested an some saucier—less fluffy KuroFai please feel free to check out my new KuroFai fic 私に薬の主人を呼んではいけない. It's an AU and a way more on the angsty smutty side of the fandom.**

 **Thank you!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Tsubasa!**

 **0o0o0**

Kurogane didn't wait very long after Fuuma left to announce that he was going to make a trip to the capital to meet with someone named Tomoyo. Yuui was happy that he and Fai got to stay home and look over the house and the village—The capital sounded scary…

He had heard plenty of stories about what it was like there when Kurogane served the princess as a ninja—all the assassins and such… They didn't have assassins in Suwa. He was happy to stay home, but Yuui was still worried about Kurogane—he knew he was very very strong, but assassins?

How could he not worry?

Fai hadn't been able to sleep very well, and he slipped out of bed in the middle of the night. The little blonde had assumed his brother was just worried about Kurogane going, too. By now, Yuui was used to his twin's restlessness and had settled back down to sleep.

Fai didn't seem bothered when he didn't get much rest—but Yuui and Kurogane both got cranky if they stayed up late with him—or joined him in the middle of the night when he lounged in the garden or read at the table.

When Yuui woke up to the sound of Kurogane getting dressed in his armor, he knew Fai had been keeping busy in the kitchen from the enticing smells drifting in through the bedroom door. If he was cooking in the middle of the night, he was worried—even if he hid it from his magic pretty well.

The sun wasn't even up yet.

So, he didn't know why they were all up and about and getting ready to start the day—but if no one could sleep they might as well.

Wordlessly he followed the ninja out of the room and up the hallway. He was still in his sleep clothes, rubbing at his tired eyes as he followed the smell of delicious food.

The tea was already set out for them, and Fai poured them both a cup as they quietly settled down. The taller blonde somehow managed to not look tired at all as he brought food to the table—an omelet for Kurogane and pancakes for himself and Yuui.

His long hair was pulled back from his face and clipped up off his shoulders. Yuui knew Fai had just thrown it up—but he still managed to look elegant and put together in yesterday's clothes as he munched happily at the sugar dusted cakes.

Yuui turned his attention to his own breakfast.

He didn't have Fai's sweet tooth, so instead of powdered sugar, his fluffy pancakes were covered in a fruit preserve. They had picked the strawberries themselves not long ago—and even though Fai had made them into jam they still tasted fresh and tart.

Nothing like the gross stuff that came in the jars at the grocery store that were next to the peanut butter. Mama would love these, he knew—papa too, but he shouldn't be allowed nice things like Fai's cooking… Not after what he did.

He had never put jam on pancakes until he had come to Suwa—back home, mama covered them in a sticky brown syrup and lots of butter. These were good in a different way though, just maybe not as good as Fai's. Yuui liked that he could fold these in half and eat them with his hands, and that his brother used all sorts of different topping depending on what they had on hand.

It never got boring or repetitive like the pancakes that came from the freezer section of the grocery store. Those ones they just put in the microwave—it was easy for mama to make so they had eaten them a lot.

Last week Fai had put actual blueberries in them, and they didn't need anything at all to add sweetness—but Yuui's favorite pancakes were the ones Fai had covered with cinnamon apples and a little bit of gooey caramel.

Kurogane had no sweet tooth to speak of and even he liked the cinnamon apples when Fai added extra cinnamon and left off the caramel.

Most mornings Fai chattered happily to them while they all ate before starting their days—but it was much earlier than usual, and they just quietly ate while the first of the birds started to make their presence known with their morning songs.

It wasn't until Yuui had finished his food and two cups of tea that he finally decided to break the silence—And only once he was sure that neither of the adults had any intention at all of doing so.

"Why are we awake so early?"

Fai shot him an amused smile and Kurogane raised an eyebrow at him. It didn't make any sense—obviously there was nothing wrong or else they wouldn't be eating like half asleep zombies and sitting in total quiet.

"I don't know. Why you're up so early?" Kurogane answered as he went back to polishing his katana—the mechanical fingers matching his natural hand's movements so well that if you didn't know it, you would never be able to tell that it was a fake.

He had only ever seen people with prosthetics on the tv—and they never moved. He had been trying not to stare but he doubted the ninja would even notice if he did.

Even if it was rude.

"I thought it was time to get up. You're both up." Yuui hated sleeping alone. He would rather nap at the table and be near them than sleep in the bedroom alone.

That didn't stop them from making him try—usually Fai would give in if he whined enough though, so he usually got to stay with them.

"Kuro-milaya has to leave at dawn to reach Shirasagi Castle before the sun sets again." Fai explained as he watched the ninja's movements as well. He had been keeping a close eye on him ever since Fuuma had left yesterday.

Fai stared at Kurogane all the time and never worried about being rude. Even when Kurogane yelled at him for being weird.

"Is Shirasagi Castle in the capital?" Yuui gathered his dishes and took them to the sink—stepping onto the stool, he set them in the water that Fai was already soaking the cookware he had used to fix their meal in.

After they had gone to fix the barrier, he was suddenly aware that he had no idea how big Suwa or Nihon really was… he had never seen so many open fields and trees before—they definitely didn't live next to any big cities.

"That's right. Its where the central government is housed and where the Shogun go to talk to the empress and argue with each other. It's also where Kuro-sama served as one of the Tsukuyomi's personal ninja." Fai explained patiently while Kurogane nodded in agreement.

He knew that Kurogane and Fai were in charge of Suwa—but he didn't know they were part of the government.

Yuui felt his stomach flip uncomfortable remembering how papa used to scream at the television, going on about how much he hated the politicians. How they were rotten people who deserved for terrible things to happen to them…

Hopefully the people in Suwa didn't think that about Fai and Kurogane… Not after they legitimately put their lives on the line to keep them safe…

"It's dangerous there, then… isn't it?" Fai picked up on his shift in mood right away, and Yuui didn't try and struggle as he was pulled into the older blonde's lap and given a reassuring squeeze.

He didn't know what he would do without his brother's hugs—even with his mismatched twin holding him close and stroking his hair—the child still couldn't help but worry.

Kurogane had told Fai that he couldn't go visit the neighboring province on his own because whoever was in charge over there didn't like the people of Suwa. What if those people were at the capital?

There were already assassins…

Said ninja snorted and Fai shot him a stern look. "The only fucker in Japan that could face me in the battle field and have a shot of winning is your idiot brother. In case you didn't notice, we get along pretty well."

"Language, Kuro-crude. You're going to teach my sweet brother how to swear like a grumpy ninja." Were ninja supposed to speak roughly? Kurogane was the only ninja he had ever met, and he was a retired ninja now…

Ninja or not, he wasn't very good at not swearing—and after his first few weeks here Fai had mostly stopped reminding him about it. It had taken a little while for Yuui to realize that Kurogane didn't swear because he was mad—he just talked that way most of the time.

Once he realized that, he stopped flinching at every f-bomb or other interesting word, and the older blonde had mostly stopped scolding the ninja—unless the village kids were here for there martial lessons of course.

Kurogane was supposed to 'Act like a real grown up' when they had company.

Nonetheless—Fai covered his ears lightly with in a dramatic way while he faked a scandalized expression—and Yuui laughed when Kurogane rolled his eyes.

"Anyways—" he continued, sliding his katana into its sheath and focusing his attention on the twins fully. "—I'll be fine. The hardest part of this whole ordeal is that I would rather be here with you both then dealing with the idiots in the capital."

"Awe. Hear how sweet our Kuro-loo is, Yuui?" Fai hugged him a little more tightly—Yuui could feel the way the ninja's words made his brothers magic flair with a simple kind of happiness, and he could feel his aura stain with fondness and affection.

Sometimes those two could be really sappy.

Yuui loved it.

"—Look on the bright side Kergs. You get to go shopping in the capital and scout out a good gems dealer for me while Yuui and I stay home and work hard to protect our beloved Suwa!" Kurogane gave an annoyed grunt as he got up and took care of the rest of the dishes on the table—tossing them into the sink to be dealt with later on.

"Write your damn list. So help me god mage, if you send me on another wild goose chase like last time, I will end you."

"We don't need any wild goose, Kuro-rinta… I didn't even know there were geese in Nihon—but if you get your hands on one, I know a wonderful recipe form my country." Yuui tried his best not to laugh at the terrible joke but both he and Fai ended up chuckling as they hurriedly got up to fetch what they would need to make a list.

Yuui heard a stream of curse words mumbled out as they walked down the hallway—occasionally broken up by the words 'useless wizard' and 'Crazy moron'. Yuui wasn't sure why Fai always seemed to grow more amused, the more colorful Kurogane's curses became—and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

Fai grabbed some paper and slowly wrote out his list in slightly too curvy, but still very pretty kanji. The list came together quickly and soon enough they were both watching as the grumpy ex-ninja looked it over and nod in approval before tucking it into his pocket and heading to the door to get his shoes on.

"Anything else before I go?"

"I am so glad you asked, Kuro-thoughtful—You need think about hiring some people to look after the house while we are gone—someone to care for the grounds, the animals, perhaps workmen to work on the house."

"We still got a whole yea—"

"I know. I am going to have to spend more time training Yuui to make sure he is ready for our trip. Not to mention someone is going to have to meet with the neighboring Shogun and vet out allies, maybe recruit some advisors to help whoever gets stuck trying to fill our shoes. I won't have time to play house wife. We need to make sure there is a system in place so that taxes still get collected, roads still get repaired, and the everyday governing isn't neglected." Fai counted everything off on his fingers and looked at Kurogane like he should know better.

Yuui liked the idea of getting to spend more time learning magic—but the rest of those jobs sounded awful.

"What are you thinking? Just put it out there that we're looking for a few servants?" Kurogane stood and Fai lifted Yuui and followed him out of the house after slipping on his favorite sandals. It was still dark out, but the first hints of sunrise were turning the black sky into majestic shades of blue and purple.

Fai flicked his wrist and a few magic orbs lit their path, and they made their way to the barn easily enough. Yuui had asked to learn how to make the pretty lights, since they seemed useful—but they were deemed more difficult than the shield that he still wasn't able to create…

He was so close—At least that's what his brother kept reassuring him.

"You're the master of the house Kerger-bun. It's up to you who you want to hire." The tiny blonde rested his head on his brother's shoulder and yawned as he looked around the dark yard with sleepy eyes. He knew that the villagers referred to their house as the Suwa estate—which sounded fancy—but were they really well off enough to afford servants?

The house was much bigger than his parent's apartment back home—but it was only partially constructed and so far, it was just them. Kurogane and Fai didn't really have official jobs they went to every day—they just sort of helped everyone else out and he didn't think they got paid for that…

No one ever paid Fai when he brought them medicine or helped them with their injuries—but they always had money for food, and they had been able to buy Yuui new clothes and shoes without talking about needing to save or cut back on other expenses.

"Look—you don't need me to fluff your ego, mage. Just tell me what the hell I need to do, and I'll get it done."

"This is your home Kurogane. You need to build your household to support what you want to achiv-"

"OUR home." Yuui didn't flinch as the ninja raised his voice to make his point—he was used to it by now.

"Ok… Yes… It's our home now—but this is your _home."_ Fai sighed as they entered the barn.

Yuui didn't blame Kurogane for now knowing what Fai meant—he had no idea what his mismatched twin was talking about.

"So—I should let you hire them?" Kurogane spoke slowly as he opened the stall to let his horse out, and tied him up while he fetched him some breakfast.

"No Kurogane. That's not what I mean." Fai shifted Yuui over to balance him on his hip and leaned against one of the stalls. "How did your father run his household?"

It was rare that his brother sounded so peeved with Kurogane—but Fai's magic didn't feel annoyed or angry—it was buzzing with a nervous energy like the topic was uncomfortable.

It made sense when he noticed the look on the retired ninja's face.

Kurogane had frozen—his hand pausing in his movement to brush his steeds coat for only a moment before he shook off his surprise. Yuui didn't know very much about the ninja's mom and dad… they didn't talk about them.

"No clue. I was too young to learn about my parents official role when they died."

Yuui frowned… Kurogane and Fai didn't talk about sad things around him. Ever.

"That's ok." Fai's voice was soft as he answered. Both he and Yuui watched as Kurogane hurried to finish tacking and saddling his horse. The older blonde chose his words carefully. "I'm not sure I can set up a traditional Japanese Shogun estate—but I can get a functioning household together."

The little blonde was back to being confused. Did household not mean what he thought it meant? He, Kurogane, and Fai were a fine household he thought… They didn't make much mess—and they shared the chores equally…

Why did they need anyone else?

"Good. What do you need me to do in the capital to help you do that?" double checking the tightness of all of the straps and buckles Kurogane slipped the bit into the horse's mouth and secured the bridal easily enough.

Fai handed him a bag that had the meals for the day and Kurogane slipped the bento's into one of his saddlebags before securing his katana to a special hook by the pummel so that the longsword would be out of the way.

His brother sighed loudly and readjusted Yuui in his arms. His anxiety was settling now, but it was replaced with a slight sense of sadness.

"Just bring back workmen to finish the repairs on the house. I'll budget out what we can afford, and we will adjust in the fall once taxes have been collected and paid. We do need a housekeeper though—I think we should look for someone local."

"Ok." Kurogane kissed Fai's forehead and ruffled Yuui's hair before vaulting into the saddle. "I'll see you in a few days."

Both the twins watched as Kurogane took off up the road to start his journey to the capital. Yuui felt Fai's magic wrap around him and it follow him as he went on his way—loosely hovering around him in an unobtrusive way.

An easy enough way to keep an eye on him. Yuui didn't know if Kurogane had any idea that Fai did this any time he left the house—but it made it easier for he to find the ex-ninja when his brother sent him to fetch him.

They quietly watched him until his rode over the hill and disappeared from view before heading back towards the house. Yuui was set back down once they had gotten in through the front door and he followed Fai back into the kitchen.

His brother made himself busy with cleaning up after breakfast and worked quietly while Yuui watched him. He could still feel Fai's magic following Kurogane as he rode further and further away. He knew better then to ask about it—not now when Fai's magic was almost leaking sadness out across the room.

They would be okay for a few days without Kurogane… He would just have to keep his brother busy while they waited for the time to pass.

He didn't know if Fai was sad because he didn't like to be away from Kurogane—or if it was because they seemed to suddenly have all of these adult problems. Yuui didn't even know how to begin to help with putting together a household—and he was even less help when it came to taxes.

He didn't really even understand what taxes were—just that he had heard various adults complain about them—so they must not be a good thing.

He waited quietly while the older blonde settled his bad mood through cleaning the kitchen. By the time he was done fretting over the tiny details the sun was peeking over the top of the trees and Fai quietly led Yuui out to the court yard to start working on his magic lessons.

He really needed to get this down if they were going someplace that might be dangerous—or else Fai might have to leave him home while he and Kurogane ran the errand for Ms. Yuuko. Fai hadn't necessarily said that—But he had left Yuui with the shopkeeper when the dragon had attacked because he couldn't defend himself.

He didn't want to add any extra stress on his twin… not when he had to worry about so many adult problems. If he could figure this out, then Fai would have one less thing to worry about.

Yuui owed it to him to stop being so useless.

"What's that serious face for, little one?" Fai's voice was sing song cheerful, but his magic betrayed his real feelings.

Stressed Fai was almost as bad as Sick Fai—and Yuui really really didn't like it when Fai was sick.

"I didn't understand of all of what you and Kurogane were talking about." There was no point in trying to hide it from the older twin—he could pick apart the small nuances of his magic far better than Yuui could do to Fai's.

It was only a little annoying.

"Well that's because you're still a little kid and your job is to worry about your lessons not all that other stuff. Leave it to the adults." Yuui still had a hard time accepting that he and Fai were not actually the same age—not like he and his Fai had been…

It was like getting shut out when Fai played the grown-up card—he only wanted to help.

"Come on now, Yuu. Don't give me that look—I swear it's boring. Enjoy being a kid while it lasts." Fai tired to sooth him with a quick hug.

Yuui like hugs—especially Fai hugs—but he wasn't going to give this up.

"Why are you guys worried about leaving for a little while next year—are you going to get in trouble?" Yuui didn't think it was fair that Kurogane and Fai were the ones to do all the fighting—it made him angry to think that they might have no choice when it came to where they went or what they did.

They should be allowed to travel as much as they wanted—just like they used to. Both his brother and Kurogane always seemed happiest when they told him stories of all the places they had been to.

"Well—not like you're thinking little one." Fai sighed and sat down on the grass—patting the spot next to him. "A long time ago—way before you or I even knew that Nihon or Suwa existed—Kuro-tan lived here with his mama and papa."

"In the same house?"

"Well—sort of—we are rebuilding the house as closely to the original as we can manage, but it is in the same spot as the first one that Kuro-sama grew up in."

Yuui already had questions he wanted to ask—but he patiently waited for his brother to continue. "—Kurogane is from a special family you see. His father was in charge of keeping all of Suwa safe from anything that might harm it—just like his father's father, and so on."

"How come?" Was there some sort of rule here that forced you to have the same job as your father? If so Yuui decided that was really dumb…

"Because it's an honor held by the strongest warrior family in the whole province. Here in Nihon the only the strongest are allowed to lead. Kurogane is special because he comes from a family that carries strength in their blood."

Oh…

"Their blood?" That sounded… scary? What was wrong with his blood?

"Hm—that's a saying in Celese. Mama's and Papa's pass their traits on to their children—just like you look just like your mother—Kurogane is strong just like his father was. In Celese it is commonly believed that traits like magic, intelligence, bravery, or battle prowess are things that are carried in the blood, and so can be passed from parent to child." Yuui blinked a few times at Fai.

His brother still didn't talk much about Celese but whenever he did it was always confusing.

"Isn't our magic in the color of our eyes?" Fai had explained that to him just last week.

"Sure is. Neither of us were born in Celese though. We can spend all day digging into the nuances and slight differences of the natural magic patterns of different dimensions and how that effects magic users biologically if you're really interested but—"

"No thank you."

"Back to your original question then?" Yuui nodded and Fai smiled. "—Kuro-chan gets to lead because he can keep everyone safe. People trust his strength because he has worked hard, and because he comes from a family that has proven their ability to do so over the generations."

Yuui wasn't sure if he was quite following. Why was everything so terribly complicated?

"What if Kurogane doesn't wanna lead Suwa even though he is the strongest? Why do we care about his blood or what his father did?" Couldn't they just leave and go live somewhere with no dragons or monsters?

"Then he would have stayed on as the Tsukuyomi's ninja and we would all be living in the capital. Ever since his parents passed away when Suwa experienced a great tragedy, he has been striving to become strong enough to reclaim his homeland and help it flourish once again."

Yuui didn't understand why Kurogane would want to get woken up in the middle of the night to have his arm ripped off by a dragon—but it was a relief to know that it was at least his own choice.

"We only just started to rebuild here a little while ago—there still aren't many people here, and we don't have any warrior clans yet—but Kuro-strong works very hard every day make this place safe. If it's safe, then people will move here and set down roots—more merchants, farmers, tradesmen will come to call Suwa home and cities and towns will grow."

"Those farmers, merchants, and tradesmen will have children—and those children will learn to love Suwa with all of their hearts and will lay down their lives to defend her. New warrior clans will be created, and they will protect Suwa for many many years."

"Oh…" That sounded like an important job…

"All of that can only happen if we can create stable, safe lands. Kurogane can leave any time he pleases—but if we're off in some other dimension and the demons over run the village or our farms are pillaged by bandits then we won't be able to rebuild Suwa." That made a lot of sense… Yuui didn't like that Fai and Kurogane had to put their lives at risk—but he didn't want bad things to happen to the villagers.

"So, what do we do?" They couldn't be in two places at once after all…

"We strategize and plan for the worst. Gather together people we can trust to hold down the fort while we're away—and make sure they have more than what they need to ensure that order is maintained" Fai smiled at him as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

"That sounds like a really big job." Yuui started to pick at the grass. He didn't like that his brother and Kurogane had to fight all the time—but they had made it pretty clear that they did it because they were one of the few people strong enough to do it.

It was admirable that his brother and Kurogane were not selfish with their strength and used it to help everyone. Even if the child wished they would worry more about their own safety.

"It's manageable. It's just going to take some good accounting and calling in a few favors." Fai leaned back to look up towards the sky and gave a tired expression. "What do you think about some new people coming to live with us Yuu? I know you're still pretty shy around strangers."

Yuui didn't like that idea at all. He liked having Fai and Kurogane all to himself. Especially since they kept getting dragged away to help everyone. If he had it his way they would all live far far away from anyone else and just stay home all day and learn magic and read stories.

His expression must have given him away because Fai chuckled and ruffled his hair playfully. "I mean… It's not really my choice." If they needed new people to stay with them then what was he gonna do? Cry and hope he got his own way?

He didn't want to make things harder for his twin… Not when he had to worry about taxes.

"No, but your opinion matters to us. This is your home as much as ours, and we want you comfortable." Fai let his smile fall finally.

Yuui liked him best when Fai acted like how he was really feeling. Fai had a really hard time just being Fai though.

"I don't want to share you guys. What if you're so busy you forget about me?" Yuui blushed as the words left his mouth—he knew he sounded a little crazy for admitting that out loud.

Fai loved him—everyone knew Fai loved him.

"While it's true Kuro-sama and I are going to be doing more boring adult stuff—part of the reason we need to build a household is so we aren't spending as much time taking care of things like meals and laundry. I can spend more time on the important stuff like teaching you magic." Yuui brightened at that thought and Fai wrinkled his nose in amusement.

"Really?"

"Mhum. Not only that but we will find people to take over the easy tasks like inspecting the roads and assessing the fields so Kuro-chan will be home more often as well. Once were back from our journey, we will have lots of time together to do fun stuff." Yuui liked that idea.

Since he had gotten here, Kurogane had been busy most days rooting out demons and helping the villagers and farmers with random repairs. He got to spend lots of time with Fai—but not much time with the ninja—both he and his mismatched twin would like to have him home more often.

"I think I would like that a lot…"

Even if he might have to share some of that time with the new people in the house…

"Good! Do you want to help me surprise Kuro-silly?" Fai's smile became mischievous and Yuui lit up.

Fai teased the ninja viciously and it was always fun to help him set up a surprise.

0o0o0

Fai had come up with his best idea in a while he had been cleaning earlier—and now that Yuui had settled, he was excited to put his plan into motion.

Kurogane had told him he could take care of setting up the household after all—and there were few people that he and Kurogane counted as true allies.

Yuui nodded eagerly and crawled into his lap when he held out his arms. Settled in the middle of the garden, Fai drew lazy runes in the air and sent a focused thread of magic out to seek a familiar friend across dimensions.

Mokona was always easy to find—and within moments he was smiling happily at a slightly surprised Syaoran. He hadn't seen either of the Syaoran's since before they had settled in Suwa and Fai felt slightly guilty at how excited the boy got as their eyes met.

"Fai!" Yuui jumped slightly in his lap and Fai chuckled.

"Long time no see. Is this an ok time Syaoran?" Fai wondered just how long it had been for the boy who had become like a son to he and his grumpy lover.

He looked so grown up—the last traces of boyhood had melted away leaving only defined cheekbones and a sharp chin.

"Of course! Give me a second let me go get the others." The older blonde smiled and waited patiently as he rushed out of the room he had been in—it looked like the castle library in Clow.

"Fai FAI FAI!" The little portal flashed around the room quickly as Mokona's voice screeched through there connection in an excited shout and his little twin jumped again. "Fai can't see Mokona—but Mokona can see Fai! Mokona missed you!"

"I missed you too Mokona. Have you been behaving for the children?" He smoothed a hand through the child in his laps hair—he was going to love the little magical creature for sure.

Yuui's magic was buzzing with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, and his hands found one of Fai's own and he held his mismatched twins palm tightly as he looked on with wide eyes.

"Mokona always behaves! Mokona is the best!" The little portal jumped again, and Fai shook his head.

Sure, she did.

Yuui was oddly quiet as they watched the kids run back into the room and crammed in together to get a better look. Delighted smiles and happy eyes greeted them—but the child twisted in his lap to hide.

He would fall for them just like he had for Kuro-chan. It would just take a little time to warm up.

"Did you miss me?" Fai teased the kids playfully even though the they were obviously not focusing on him any longer.

"We did! But Fai… who is-?" The Clone Sakura, there first Sakura, frowned and squinted at Yuui—almost as if she thought her eyes were betraying her.

"This adorable little one is Yuui. He found his way to Yuuko's shop and she contacted me and Kuro-papa to care for him. He's fit right in here in Suwa." Yuui braved a turn of his head and flashed what must have been one of his preciously shy looks by the way both of the Sakura's squealed.

Fai understood—his tiny twin was painfully cute most of the time.

"How have you all been?" he offered in an attempt to change the subject so as not to overwhelm his Yuui.

"Good. It's been a little weird with all of us together in Clow, but it's been peaceful." The original Syaoran answered and the others nodded in agreement.

While the clones didn't have a world to return to—both sets had been eager to make new memories together after all of the hardship in their young lives.

"That might be why I'm calling" Fai winked at them. "I was wondering if I could borrow the Clones for a while? Things haven't been as peaceful here and Kuro-chan and I need someone to watch the house while we run an errand for Yuuko."

It really was convenient—They would get to spend some time with the kids, and they had just the right set of skills to hold down the fort.

Sakura had been raised as a princess and could easily refresh the barrier with the help of an assistant—and Syaoran was more then strong enough to take care of any demons that came prowling.

"Yeah we can do that." Sakura chirped happily. No doubt just as excited to spend some time with her old traveling companions.

"Yeah—but what happened? Are you both ok?" both Syaoran's spoke in unison and Fai chuckled.

"Oh yeah. It's a funny story really—Kuro-silly fed his arm to a giant dragon and the price for the new arm was a free vacation to an unknown land to retrieve a mystery prize for Yuuko." The kids didn't look too convinced at that declaration, but Fai just continued to smile. "He's off at the capital now letting Tomo-chan know that were going to be leaving here in about a years' time."

"Is there any way you could get us a little early so we can spend some time together?" Sakura shot him puppy dog eyes.

That had been the plan—as soon as they were ready.

"I can get you today if you want. We would have to leave right away though—I think Kuro-worry would have an aneurism if he came home and Yuui and I were missing." Given his luck there would probably be an emergency—time between here and Clow was close but not exact.

"Can you take all of us without exhausting yourself?" four sets of skeptical eyes glared at him and Fai shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll be pretty tired but it's worth it to have you here sooner ne?" he would make up a tonic to help with any backlash before he left so all he would have to do was swallow it.

World walking spells doubled the amount of magic required with every person you added—he wouldn't be able to leave Yuui here because of the time difference—so two people there, and four people back would definitely take some energy. Not anything he hadn't done before.

Both of the clones nodded at him and scampered off to get ready and he chatted happily with the originals for the next hour or so. With bags packed and the proper people notified of just where the clones were running off too—Fai cut the connection to ready himself.

"Won't Kurogane be mad that we left?" Yuui watched him as he started to draw powerful sparking runes one by one—recalling the familiar spell easily enough.

There were not many spells that required him to draw out each rune and focus carefully on his intent—but you did not want to bugger this type of spell.

"Not once he sees who we brought." Fai lifted Yuui into his arms once the last of the runes were drawn—he could feel the child shaking—the last time they had traveled to a different dimension together it had been when he had first brought him home to Suwa. "You don't have to be nervous. I have complete control and we won't get stuck ok?"

"We could get stuck?" his little twins eyes opened impossibly wide and Fai kicked himself for even mentioning that possibility.

"Nope. I've done this a bunch. You don't need to worry." Yuui nodded at him but fisted his hands tightly in the older's yukata.

He decided it was best to just hurry up and get this over with so they could get back and put Yuui's mind at ease. With a controlled slam of power, he felt the fabric of Suwa give way and after nearly a minute they landed in the familiar heat of Clow.

Good lord was it hot—much hotter then Suwa in the summer.

His spell had hardly settled before he felt Yuui wiggle to get free and set the child down immediately when he heard a rushed "I don't feel so good Fai…"

The kids rushed the room and paused when they noticed a very green looking child bending over and holding his stomach. Fai had become so used to interdimensional travel that he had forgotten that motion sickness was a pretty common side effect of any magical form of travel.

Especially for children.

Both the princesses were cooing comforts at Yuui as he tried to swallow his nausea while also doing his best to hide behind the older twin. A servant thankfully brought the poor thing a glass of water—and he spent the next 15 minutes trying to convince the child to sip the water slowly and take deep breaths.

He was absolutely going to barf on the way home…

Mokona waited until Yuui was a little less green before bouncing up and proudly introducing herself to 'Fai's super cute little brother!' and Yuui was distracted from the trip homes preparations as he held the soft rabbit-like creature in his arms.

A few tearful goodbyes and Fai slammed his way back out of Clow just the way they had come, draining a large reserve of power to get home. As expected—Yuui lost his breakfast and the kids thankfully gave them some space while his twin tried to breathe between heaving.

He ended up carrying the boy and laying him down for a nap before helping the children get settled. A quick sleep spell in the form of a lullaby had Yuui resting peacefully—and Fai headed back out to steal some quality time.

Sakura and Syaoran were talking quietly at the table and Fai was fully prepared for the worried looks they flashed his way. It didn't matter that he had a very real smile stretched across his face as made his way to the table.

"Oh no… What did I do to get that sour look?" Fai chose to sit down across from Syaoran and next to Sakura. The princess had already taken care of making them tea—and he happily accepted the steaming cup from her.

"Is Yuui ok?" the poor dear sounded worried sick. Fai could relate—he knew his little twin though and after an hour or two of napping he would be the usual little ball of energy begging for magic lessons and snacks.

"Yes—he just isn't used to that kind of magic, that's all." He would get used to it one day if he decided to wander outside of this dimension—hopefully a little motion sickness wouldn't discourage him from learning the many forms of transportation magic.

"He really does look like you." Syaoran glanced over his shoulder down the hall towards where the child was resting. "How long has he been here?"

"Not long. Yuui is still not quite settled yet, but he's starting to get used to Suwa I think." Fai didn't know if Syaoran had ever shared anything about his past with Sakura after they had been reunited—but he could guess what the archeologist was thinking.

"H—how old is he?" Fai offered a reassuring smile at the brunette's stuttered inquiry.

Before Yuui had come to stay in Suwa with them—Fai wasn't able to talk about his deceased twin no matter how carefully the subject was brought up. Yuui had done wonders to heal those wounds however—and while thinking about his own Yuui and what had happened to him was painful—he was blessed that he was reunited with his twin.

They came from different worlds—but they shared a soul and they were so similar it was easy to forget Yuuko hadn't just given him his Yuui back. Fai was truly blessed even if he didn't think he deserved this chance at happiness.

He tired not to think of it like that—he tried to remind himself that everything happens for a reason and the fact that this Yuui had lost his Fai—and Fai had lost his Yuui was probably meant to be. The lost twins were probably together as well now—being reborn together into another dimension.

"7-ish. He wasn't quite sure since he didn't come from the best situation and magic slows the aging process—even for children—but he acts like a 6 or 7-year-old and has the expected control of his magic for a child of that age." He was small for 7, that was for sure—but Fai had also been rather small for his physical age until his late teens.

Yuui would probably hit a growth spurt when his magic allowed for him to reach the physical age of 16 or 17, just like Fai had.

A short silence settled between them—the kids both looked as though they were afraid to step on his toes or upset him. Fai wanted them to know that they could ask him anything—he was past the point in his life where he wanted to keep secrets from his family. Mostly thanks to Kurogane and Yuui helping him through his issues.

"You two don't need to be so tense. I'll tell you anything you want to know—you're my family—so, by extension, Yuui is your family too." Their surprised look stung a little. What could he expect given that during the first few years of their travels he hadn't spared even a smidgen of info on himself?

They could fix that now.

"We just—" Sakura blushed lightly and looked at Syaoran. "—thank you, Fai."

"You don't have to thank me—it's the least I can do before I pry my way into your love lives with all my nosey questions." They all shared a laugh at that.

Fai had missed this.

It would be even better with Kurogane and Yuui with them too—but he was going to soak this up while it lasted. This year was going to fly by he already knew—and next year was going to be hell.

0o0o0

 **Thanks you to IputBellainthewitchelm for looking this over for me!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Tsubasa**

 **0o0o0**

Kurogane was tired and home sick. Since he had met Fai years ago at the dimensional witch's shop—they had never been apart for more then a few days at a time. A week was almost unheard of for them.

It wasn't like he was some sort of little bitch who couldn't go without his lover—he just really missed the idiot in a way he always told himself he wouldn't. It was worse now that they had Yuui—he spent all of his travel time, meal times, down times, and pretty much any time he hadn't been in an important meeting, worrying about his idiots.

Which was dumb.

Fai was strong as hell and could not only look out for himself—but also protect his twin and the rest of Suwa with ease. It wasn't like he was going to starve to death in a week in a half ether—not when he had drank just hours before the retired ninja had left.

He just worried.

For no reason.

It was annoying.

Whether Princess Tomoyo had noticed his home sickness, or if her allowing him to leave after only a week was a coincidence, he didn't give a shit. He was hurrying home as fast as he could push their party.

It was times like this that he wished he had better resources—that he could just assign some men to escort the workmen back home to Suwa, rather then do it himself. He didn't have those resources though—so he hurried as fast as he could and after a week and a half he was finally home. He did his duty as Lord Suwa and stopped in the village to make sure no one needed anything and that things had been well while he was away—then he beat feet to the house to see his knuckleheads.

The workmen were settled in the inn, so he was a free man for the time being. He took care of his horse—sending him out with the others in the pasture after a good brush down and some food. Once that was taken care of, he slung his bags over his shoulder and headed into the house.

Since it was just past noon, he expected for Yuui to be down for his nap and Fai to be attempting to catch a few minutes of sleep as well. Instead he was practically tackled as soon as he opened the door by three very familiar faces.

"What the fuck are you guys doing here?" Kurogane's tone was happy despite his choice of words. He wrapped an arm around each of the kids and let the manjuu bun litter his face with kisses while he hugged them.

This was not an expected surprise, but it sure was one hell of a good one.

"Fai came and got us a while ago to help out while you guys run you errand for Yuuko." Syaoran admitted as both the kids took a step back and smiled at him.

Fuck had they grown.

The kid must be taller than Fai by now—and the princess looked a hell of a lot more like a woman then the tween he had said good bye to in Clow.

"Mokona came too Kergy!" the pork bun jumped up and down and Kurogane nodded at the fuzz ball before letting her crawl down the front of his shirt for old times sake.

"Yeah yeah manjuu. I didn't forgot you." He ruffled both he kids hair roughly and stepped further into the house to find the mismatched twins in the kitchen. Fai in front of the stove and Yuui sitting a safe distance away on the counter top, helping.

As soon as Yuui locked eyes with him, he ran across the room and grabbed both of his arms and pulled him insistently towards the soji doors that led to the garden. "Come on Kurogane! I have to show you come on!"

That was unusually bold.

Mokona was probably teaching the poor kid all sorts of bad manners though.

"Show me what squirt?" he let himself be pulled into the back garden without protest—looking over his shoulder too see the rest of the adults watching them with amusement.

Fai especially so.

"You have to see!" Yuui pulled a little harder before letting go of his hand and running a short distance away and turning to face him again.

Kurogane recognized the stance immediately and felt pride creeping up from his stomach and growing in his chest as he watched the kid draw the runes one by one.

Once they had metalized, Yuui closed his eyes, and a few seconds later was surrounded with a solid, glowing, obnoxiously yellow shield.

Shit.

"How did you finally figure it out?" The twerp had been at his wits end with the spell when Kurogane had observed his last practice session.

"Fai tricked me. He had Syaoran throw a fire ball at him and I just did it without thinking… It was really really mean." Yuui frowned and let the shield fall.

That was such a Fai thing to do he wasn't even surprised.

"You want me to beat him up for being an idiot?" He raised an eyebrow and Yuui shook his head back and forth quickly.

"No. He said that's how he learned how to do it too. I guess I never really got the whole intent part right until Fai was going to get hurt… I was scary but now I can do it super easy!"

"Good. I'm proud of you." Kurogane watched Yuui's eyes get impossibly wide at those words and he reached out to ruffle the twerp fluffy hair.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're gonna be kicking ass and taking names here pretty soon." The little twin beamed so brightly Kurogane was sure he was going to go blind.

"I can help you and Fai if I get good at magic right! You'll let me help fight the next dragon?" The kid was practically wiggling with excitement and Kurogane barked out a laugh.

Sometimes it was freaky how much he could relate to Yuui. He could remember getting ahead of himself as a kid that age—it happened every time he made the littlest bit of progress. He'd beg his old man to take him hunting.

"You keep getting better and you'll get good enough to fight a dragon. Just listen to Fai and he'll teach you." Kurogane leaned down and snatched Yuui up with one arm, hoisting him over his shoulder he started to head back towards the house.

"You'll teach me too right? Syaoran said that you taught him how to fight with his sword. He said you were the best teacher ever." Yuui was like a sack of potatoes and didn't struggle—just continued to chatter happily.

"Sure. I'll teach you too." They got back into the house and Fai wiped his hands on the kitchen towel before meeting them in the dining room.

Leaning up he stole a chaste kiss from the ninja before giving him a hug, Yuui still slung over his shoulder.

"How was my Kuro-hero's trip to the capital?" His voice was mellow and his smile was one of the rare soft ones. A true smile.

"Tomoyo wants us to visit with Yuui before we go." It had been nice to see her—it would be nicer to see her with Fai and Yuui at his side.

He had a feeling the squirt was really going to like princess Tomoyo.

"Of course. No troubled on the road? Your arm is ok?" Fai kissed his cheek one more time before heading back to the stove.

Kurogane made a mental note to check up on him once they were alone. He could see Fai was exhausted from his slow movements and half lidded eyes.

"Nope. Arms good. Rode was surprisingly safe." Kurogane plopped down in his usual spot and Yuui finally seemed to be sick of playing ragdoll and wiggled back and settled in his lap.

The kids came to join them and Mokona popped out of the ninja's shirt and hopped right into Yuui's waiting hands.

Why wasn't he surprised?

Mokona normally hated kids—they had a tendency to screech and pull on her ears—Yuui seemed to have won her over though. The child hugged her to his chest like a teddy bear and she didn't seem to mind one bit.

Shit was this nice. The needed to have everyone together like this more often. Life was busy but times like this were precious.

Once Mokona finished settling into the twerps arms she turned her attention to Kurogane.

"Is it true that Kuro-chan fed his arm to a dragon so we could visit? How brave brave brave!" Fai grinned and Yuui giggled at the pork buns words. Kurogane growled low in his throat.

How did he know that was coming?

"Dammit! I didn't feed my arm to a dragon. It ate it all on its god damn own!" The manjuu had the sense to hop away and hopped atop the mages head as he settled down at the table with them.

"Hyuu—Kuro-chan admits it see!" The kids looked back and forth between them for a moment as Kurogane's glare soften as he directed it at Fai.

"Did you tell the kids about your accidental dragon ride then?" Fai probably hadn't mention that part—his leg had healed nicely, but he continued to tease Kurogane about his arm as though he hadn't also made an idiot of himself in that battle.

Who the fuck slips and impales themselves on a dragon spine?

He had gotten stuck like a total moron.

"No—I only told them the fun details about how my tough Kuro-hunk saved me and the baby dragon, and how Mrs. Dragon was so thankful that she has left our humble home alone."

Right.

"You're and idiot. You know that right?"

"Yes, But I'm you're idiot." The mage winked and Kurogane did his damnedest not to blush as he turned his attention back to the kids who were watching them.

He was over the dragon talk. She was gone and hopefully never coming back. He could die happy without ever having to deal with another giant scaly monster.

Kurogane was may more interested in get caught up on what the kids had been up to.

He was not all that surprised to hear that it was weird in Clow with two sets of them. Kurogane had always had a feeling they wouldn't all end up staying there. Not once they finally healed the wounds on there hearts and got ready to take the next steps in life.

He didn't know where the clones were going to end up—but he was happy to have them here with them now.

"Any way—" Syaoran sipped his tea before continuing on his pretty boring update. "—pretty much we've just been enjoying the peace. It got boring awhile ago though."

"Yeah. Not as exciting as traveling that's for sure." Sakura agreed but was smiling none the less.

Kurogane was willing to bet that while bored—they were just happy to have each other. Suwa had a special place in his heart but he could be stuck anywhere with Fai and be content.

"Yeah well you're not gonna be board here. It's settled a bit, but the demons keep us busy when the surrounding provinces get sick of picking on us." He and Fai had their hands full most of the time—the kids would hardly have time for themselves with all the shit that had to be taken care of. "Sure you wont miss it?"

"No. To be honest it was getting really old." Syaoran shrugged.

Yeah—that was defiantly his Syaoran. He might be a book worm, but he was a fighter just like Kurogane.

"Like father like son I suppose." Fai laughed and Yuui turned around to flash him a strange look.

"I'm confused… Is Syaoran and Sakura really your kids?"

"No, your brother is just an idiot."

"Kuro-daddy is such a liar! Don't listen to him!" Fai pulled the princess into a dramatic embrace and pet her hair in a 'calming' motion.

As usual, his over the top behavior earned a laugh from his little twin and Kurogane rolled his eyes at the display.

"Don't confuse your brother. He's going to think its normal for brothers and sisters to be a thing." The ninja gestured vaguely and Fai let Sakura go.

"I guess the cats out of the bag. Sakura and Syaoran are adopted." Fai sniffled and wiped at a fake tear and Kurogane was tempted to bang his head on the table. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner children."

"Really?" Yuui twisted around again to confirm with the ninja and he growled.

"No… Dammit mage. Tell him the truth before he gets weird ideas."

"It is the truth! We met Sakura and Syaoran at Yuko's shop and we adopted them as our babies and gave them plenty of nurturing love and shepherded them into adulthood in between intense battles and silly shenanigans."

"Fai." his tone turned warning.

"Fight me. That's what happened and I'll blast you if you deny it." Fai winked and the kids both started chuckling.

"Fai is right Yuui." Sakura offered a kind smile and tired to clarify. "Kurogane and Fai both became like our parents. Fai always cooked for us, cleaned the house, and took care of our injuries. And Kurogane taught us all sorts of cool things and kept us safe."

"Yeah. So he's like our dad if that makes sense." Syaoran added and Yuui nodded.

"That make sense." the tot nodded before ducking under the table and crawling on his stomach to pop out between his twin and the princess and reclaim the manjuu.

"Awwww! Kuro-papa did you hear!" Fai didnt even seem fazed by the adorable display of Yuui shaking the pork buns tiny paw and Kurogane was quickly distracted from the sight at his lovers high pitched voice.

"If you don't shut the hell up, I'll cut you in half." Kurogane sipped his tea and rolled his eyes again.

He loved Fai—but he could do without that particular nickname. The kids were his kids sure—but not like that. Because of there weird bond he felt good leaving Suwa in their hands while they went on their stupid trip.

" _Anyways_ —Syaoran. If your up to it I'll take you out with me tomorrow so we can get you used to the men you'll be leading." The kid nodded. Kurogane had a feeling he was probably itching for a good fight. Working together it would be easy enough to get the population of demon's down before they left.

"Yeah. Fai sorta filled us in on the whole situation with the demons. I haven't gone far from the house yet, but we saw a few up over on the hill to the west."

"There nothing compared to the shit we've faced but they keep you on your toes." Kurogane and Fai had wiped out the serious threats months ago.

They would fuck you up if you weren't careful—but Syaoran was no newbie. He could handle himself.

"Looks like the doggy duo is getting back together." Fai cooed at no one in particular and grinned like an idiot. "Just like in Oto. Sakura and I will be staying home while you two put your big strong muscles to use."

"Doggy duo? Oto?" Yuui frowned.

Hadn't they told Yuui about that mind fuck of a world? They all had a lot of fond memories of that place. Other then the demons it had been peaceful, and they had been able to let there hair down. They also had stayed there longer then they were usually able to so they had a lot of stories of Oto.

"It was actually Edonis country." Syaoran specified as though the kid would have any idea what that meant, and Fai nodded in agreement as he stood to check on their meal.

"It was a fun world until that Seshiro messed with Fai! Then it was scary scary scary!" Mokona gave a fake shiver and hugged Yuui's wrist.

"I don't understand."

Yeah no surprise there kiddo.

"We landed in a world that was far more technologically advanced then here. We ended up in something called a virtual reality without realizing it?" the kid tried to clarify but Yuui just furrowed his brows.

"Like those video games with the glasses?" the child pet the fluff ball and looked over at Fai hoping he might be able to clarify.

"Video game… Syaoran is that the like the little cube that you plugged into the picture box that used the funny lumpy square with the buttons to move the little cartoon around?" Fai had never been very interested in the worlds that had technology—unless it was something in the kitchen—he really liked the fancy kitchen appliances for piffle.

It was an accurate description as far as Kurogane could remember, but Yuui looked even more confused.

"Yeah." Syaoran confirmed. "The little box was called a console—you plugged it in to the television and used a controller to move the little cartoon around."

That seemed to click with him, and his face lit up with understanding.

"Yuui, you had that in your world but with glasses then?" Fai turned the stove off and grabbed a few plates form the cabinet.

Kurogane and Fai knew a little about Yuui's world, but he still wasn't able to talk about it much without getting tied in knots. Fai never seemed to worry about brushing a sore subject though and as the weeks went on, they had gotten a pretty clear picture of just what the place had been like.

"Mhum. It had just come out before I left to come here. It was really expensive—But mama took us to the game store while we waited for the transfer bus to get home from school, and we got to play the demo they had in the store. You put these big glasses on—and it hooked around your head and blocked out all the light so the only thing you could see was the screen and it looked like you were actually in the video game…" Yuui grimaced a little at the memory. "It was a scary game and monsters kept jumping out, and I got way too scared. Fai liked it a lot though."

Kurogane saw his mage smirk at that last part—he was going to guess that his Fai's Yuui didn't like jump scares any more then there Yuui did.

His mage lived for a good jump scare. Any time they had landed in a world with horror movies or those stupid 'haunted houses' he would get more excited then a kid on Christmas.

"Then yes almost exactly like that except instead of glasses they put you in this big glass egg type thing and you fell asleep and woke up in the game." Fai set a plate in front of each of them before bringing the actual meal to the table—serving it up family style. "We had no idea we were in a game till we lost and woke up."

"That sounds terrifying…" Yuui as he fidgeted nervously. "I don't think it would be fun to get stuck in one of those games."

Fai used a serving spoon to dish his little twin up before doing the same for Sakura, Syaoran, Mokona, Kurogane, and himself. "It wasn't actually scary at all. We got to make up names and pick whatever career we wanted. Sakura and I ran a cute little café called the Cat's eye."

"Oh. That doesn't sound scary at all."

"That's not even the best part! Tell him Fai! Tell him!" Mokona hopped up and down at her spot between the two twins.

"Yeah—tell him how you made us look like morons in front of hundreds of people for shits and giggles." It had legitimately been years and he had still not forgiven his mage for that.

He can remember his father telling him to choose his battles carefully when it came to your soulmate—and he would pick this one ever time.

That had just been ridiculous.

Yuui went slightly pale as he looked up at his brother—giving him an admonished look as he waited for the older blond to continue.

Who knew what the kid assumed—he knew his brother though and he knew just how over the top he could be when the mood struck him.

"Well—At the time I didn't know how to read or write in their language and as the default mother of the group it was my job to fill out all the paper work—" Yuui turned his reproved stare over to the ninja.

"Why would you let Fai fill out the paper work to start with if he can't read or write in the language? It's like your asking for him to make fun of you."

Yup—Yuui knew Fai really fucking well.

Way better then Kurogane had at that time. They had only been traveling together for a short while at that point, and he hadn't quite learned how utterly obnoxious Fai was capable of being.

At the child's reproachful words the rest of the group burst out laughing while Kurogane had a stare off with the munchkin.

Was he for real?

How was that even remotely his fault? Like he had asked Fai to humiliate him with such a dumb name by not supervising him? His mage was and adult—

"—Anyway—" Fai got the last of his giggles under control and called the groups attention back to himself. "—I couldn't write our names, so I just drew cute little pictures to match our personalities! Once they entered the pictures into the computer Kuro-woof became Big dog and Syaoran became little dog! They chose the career of Demon hunter, so we started to call them the Doggy duo when we talked about them!"

The older twin looked far too pleased with that explanation.

"It was humiliating! Warriors don't have animal names with cute little drawings to match idiot!" Yuui shook his head slowly as Kurogane shot his brother a glare.

"It's actually very catchy. I like it." Yuui batted his big blue eyes and took another bite of his dinner.

Kurogane felt his eye twitch.

"We thought so too." Sakura piped in and grinned, her cheerful tone lightening the mood. "He made himself Big Cat and me Little Cat, so he also named the café the Cat's Eye. We had a lot fun there. I think that's where we all got really close"

The kid and the manjuu both nodded in agreement.

The princess wasn't wrong. He started training Syaoran on how to use a sword—Sakura had gotten enough of her feathers back that she was less ditzy zombie and more seriously forgetful girl—and he and Fai had bonded over getting shit faced every night.

They had learned that it was not responsible to let the kids drink—that Fai was a hell of a cook—that Yuuko was even more annoying than they had originally thought.

It had been fun till Kurogane had thought his friends had been murdered and he had gone though an hour of blind rage at the thought of not being able to protect the people he cared about.

Only to have Fai show back up and wave at him like a total idiot….

"Yeah well—No more Doggy Duo nonsense ok mage?" Kurogane took a bite of food as the mage shrugged back as if to say 'no promises.'

There was a short silence as they all tucked into their dinner—something Fai had learned how to make while in Yama—simple and tasty made with rice, tomatoes, and spiced sausage—A group favorite.

As expected, Fai couldn't keep his yap shut for long and swallowed his latest bite and sipped his drink before looking Kurogane dead in the eyes. No smile but the perfectly emotionless expression was almost worse.

"Hey Big Dog?" That look was not fooling anyone—especially not Kurogane and he felt his eye twitching again as the idiot waited form him to respond.

The kids, manjuu, and Yuui had all paused in their movements and were watching there exchange carefully.

Kurogane didn't bother with an answer—just stared at his idiot mage.

"I need you to send the workmen my way tomorrow so we can go over plans and budgets. You can save me the trip while you and Little Dog head out hunting, now can't you?"

"I will fucking end you mage."

 **0o0o0**

Fai frowned at Yuui who had fallen asleep using Sakura's chest as a pillow.

Was this really going to be the first night that Yuui didn't sleep in he and Kurogane's room?

What if he had a nightmare? What if he woke up confused and afraid?

The princess was also fast asleep. She, Yuui, and Mokona had all fallen asleep cuddled up reading a story book. Fai didn't have the heart to wake them. His cute little twin was sleeping through the night more often then not these days…

He was only going to be across the hall after all… Yuui lived here and knew his way around.

Still though... Fai didn't know if he could leave them be.

Fai jumped when he felt a heavy hand thunk down on his shoulder, and he turned to see Kurogane and Syaoran both looking at him with questioning eyes. Taking a step back he slowly slid the door to the guest room closed and frowned at his adoptive son and lover.

"They fell asleep reading…" He should have managed a smile and a happy tone for that sentence. They were totally adorable all curled up as the were in a little pile in the middle of the futon.

It was so wonderful that Yuui had been able to fall asleep without any help from Fai. He was normally so very anxious at the end of the day—Fai never got him down with just a story…

He should be ecstatic to see this progress. To see that the princess was able to ease his little twin just as he suspected she would.

Fai wasn't though.

He wanted Yuui in his room curled up next to him safe and sound… He wanted to sing him a lullaby as he had every night since the boy had arrived and drift off knowing that Yuui was right there in his arms.

"That's fine—Yuui can just stay with us tonight. It's no big deal." Syaoran offered him a happy smile. No doubt the real reason for his distress went right over the brunet's head.

Yuui had warmed up to the kids surprisingly quickly and had been napping with the princess in the afternoon heat most days. This really shouldn't be that much of a surprise—he should have mentally prepared himself for this…

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Fai was really hoping that they would mind—that he would have an excuse to steal him back and not miss his good morning kisses and snuggles…

Even that pleading hint rent right over Syaoran's head.

"No, it's really fine. Sakura really likes Yuui and they look comfortable. No need to wake them." Fai gave a defeated nod and watched Syaoran slip into the room he shared with the princess.

Kurogane was much more perceptive and wordlessly tugged him across the hall into their own room, leaving the door open a few inches.

Fai was glad he did… it helped… even if it was just a tiny connection.

"Why are you in upset over that? He's fine." Kurogane shot him a soft look and Fai crawled shamelessly into his lover's arms. He inhaled Kurogane's comforting scent.

They had gotten out of the bath a little over and hour ago and he vaguely smelled like the lavender oil Fai had added to the water. He would have preferred his natural scent—but this too helped a bit to calm his racing mind.

"What if he has a bad dream? Wakes up and doesn't realize where he is? He needs me Kuro-tan." Fai was half tempted to march back across the hall and snatch him up.

If it weren't for the ninja physically holding him in place, he would already have his Yuui back.

"Don't be a mother hen. The kids don't mind, and they are more than capable of helping the twerp into our room or soothing him from a nightmare Fai." He knew Kurogane wasn't wrong.

The kids would be take care of Yuui—but Fai still wanted him close.

Needed him close.

He had only had Yuui back for a little while now and wasn't ready to give him up just yet.

"But—" Kurogane silenced him with a kiss, using his thumb and forefinger to turn the blondes head away from the slightly ajar door.

"Try and lay down—if it doesn't work, I'll go get him, but you gotta try." The ninja's eyes were no nonsense and the mage reluctantly nodded before crawling into their futon—curling as close as he could without being on top of Kurogane.

The retired ninja tangled his mechanical fingers into Fai's loose hair roughly—not quite used to how sensitive the nerve sensors were in this newest model. He didn't mind in the slightest, the way the fingers tugged at his hair was grounding his anxious mind and he sighed tiredly.

He had been using a veneer spell to hide his gold eyes from Yuui and the kids—not wanting to worry them when Kurogane was out of town.

Relaxing his control, he let it flicker and fade—his gold eyes meeting his lovers own tired ruby gaze.

"Getting the kids really zapped your energy didn't it?" Kurogane released his hold on his hair so he could pull the hem of his Yukata away from his neck, exposing it to the vampire.

Fai had been exhausted all week. He hadn't gotten sick but he had been craving this ever since they had returned. Fai was the first to admit that he sucked at being hungry... It reminded him of things he didn't want to think of, and it hurt worse now that he had Yuui here in front of him... His Yuui had suffered right along with him in Valerie and this week had his head full of things he normally did his best not to think of.

He had used hunger to spite Kurogane and punish himself after Acid Tokyo—but he much preferred a full stomach. Drinking would not only calm that nagging hunger that had been hounding him all week—but also the act of drinking was intimate and something he shared only with his lover. Hopefully this would push those awful memories away and he could go back to enjoying Yuui's presence rather then morning his own deceased brother.

"Yeah." Fai knew there was no point in denying it. Kurogane knew his limits better then he did sometime. "No serious backlash though." Shifting his weight, he fell into the familiar routine and carefully found where his prey's pulse point was the strongest.

"Good. I missed the hell outta them, but I hate seeing you bedridden from overusing your magic." Kurogane shivered as the vampire's breath puffed against his neck. He returned the hand to the back of Fai's head and encouraged him a little closer.

Fai used just enough pressure to brake the skin and felt the ninja relax after a few seconds.

He knew Kurogane hated it when he got hit with bad backlash—especially because he didn't even need to use 100% of his power to be stuck in bed for a week or more.

When he had given up the remaining magic in his sole eye for his lovers mechanical arm—he had unknowingly ruined his body's only way of handling the fact that the magic in the eye that was stolen only increased with each use.

Together they had evened each other out—his left eye acting as an emergency drain for his right, so he didn't really get the debilitating migraines from a sudden power increase. The right also fed the left so that using the power didn't put him at risk and drain him totally.

Without that balance he was all but useless after a big fight… That wasn't the only reason he tried to avoid it though, Fai really really hated headaches.

Getting the kids himself had been a risk—and thankfully he was only left with a little bit of uncomfortable tightness rather then a full-blown ocular migraine.

Especially when Kurogane wasn't here to help him through it… The kids would have worried and done their best—but he and the ninja had their headache care routine down pat.

He had been tossing around the idea of coming up with a seal of sorts—like the phoenix mark that Ashura had used to stop his power from growing. Sealing magi was not his specialty and he didn't even have a good base spell to work off of.

It wasn't like there was an abundance of Celesian magic texts laying about ether. Ashura had spent months researching to create that seal—and it wasn't the type of thing you just threw together on the fly…

His power was almost back to where it had been before his magic had been halved. Fai didn't see a point in allowing it to grow anymore—the chances that he would ever need to use 100% of his magic were slim to none…

It was something to worry about at a later date though. They had enough to deal with at the moment.

Like worrying about the possibility that his sweet twin might wake in the middle of the night and feel abandoned.

They hadn't had the bedroom to themselves for month now—but even so, Fai finished up quickly. Lapping at the two identical puncture wounds lazily until it slowed to a stop.

Normally Yuui ended up between them so it was nice to rest his head on Kurogane's chest and listen to the beat of his heart as it slowed back down to normal. Before Yuui they probably would have made love ether directly before or after—but neither of them seemed to be in the mood given how jittery Fai was feeling.

They settled instead for holding onto each other and listening to the silence of house while Kurogane regained his senses from the feed. Eventually he started to brush his fingers though Fai's hair, and use his other hand to trace lazy patters up and down his side.

"You're tense." Kurogane eventually spoke, his voice low and heavy. Fai knew he had to be tired form his travels—even without having someone suck a little bit of your life force out that was understandable.

"I know."

"You two are co-dependent." Kurogane continued to play with his hair but used his other hand to find Fai's own and he interlaced there fingers.

"I know."

"I'm willing to bet he wakes up in the middle of the night and flips shit." Fai frowned.

Shouldn't they go get him then?"

"—but" Kurogane continued and Fai signed. "I think it's good for you both if he can make it through the night in the kids room."

"I know…"

"cuse it shows that he is branching out."

"Mhum…"

"And he's proves he's growing. You both are… him maybe a little faster then you." Kurogane kissed the top of Fai's head and the blonde sucked in a deep breath.

It made sense. He shouldn't be the only people in Yuui's life that he could turn to… Fai could turn to the kids and Yuui could too if ever he was in trouble.

But that didn't make it any easier to settle…

"If he does get scared we're right here. This is a safe place for him and your 20 feet away Fai."

"I hate it when your right." He didn't need a lecture from Kurogane—that wasn't going to make him feel any better.

"You were right too you know… by bringing the kids here. I should have thought of that." Kurogane kissed the top of his head again and Fai squeezed his hand in thanks.

The only time his lover was ever this talkative was when they were alone on quite nights like these.

"That was pure impulse. I'm actually a very selfish person in case you didn't already know Kuro-sama." Kurogane chuckled but Fai was dead serious.

He had been pouting after Kurogane had left and decided to call them on a whim and see if he could coax them out here. He was going to do his best to convince them to stay too.

Not for their benefit—but because he wanted them all together here in Nihon—in Suwa—forever and ever.

"Impulse or good instinct?"

"Impulse. I'll see if I can use my master convincing skills and sweet talk them into staying for good." Kurogane Squeezed Fai's hand this time.

He knew Kurogane wouldn't dislike that idea at all.

"Good instinct. Keep them close and safe. I don't like leaving them here alone though."

"I think I might have a plan… that's a discussion for another day though."

"Don't do anything to make Yuui worry or I'll kick your ass wizard."

"I love you too Kuro-sama."

 **0o0o0**

 **Hey my homies! I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think! Shout out to** **IputBellainthewitchelm** **thanks for all your help! You are amazing and you should all go check them out and read their stories 3**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Tsubasa.**

 **0o0o0**

Time seemed to just fly by with getting the preparations underway and Fai was doing his best to savor the calm afternoons that were left. Sakura and Syaoran were a huge help though—and they were almost right where they needed to be when it came to getting there affairs in order.

The work men had progressed further on the house then he had assumed—and while he had had to adjust their budget a bit to keep the project moving—they now had room to house staff—a proper household kitchen and bath one would expect to find in a lords house—and it was starting to feel less like a humble abode and more like the grand Suwa estate he had seen in paintings.

Kurogane had recruited some more young men to the village, and they had brought there families as well to settle in the fledgling province. While helping them build homes and settle had been a little overwhelming given the short notice—it meant that they were better protected and would be collecting more in taxes.

Syaoran was doing an amazing job of learning form Kurogane as always—and the warriors that worked under the retired ninja respected him as though he were lord Suwa's blooded heir. Sakura was doing just as well, and though she wasn't quite ready to come with Fai to meetings with their fellow war lords—she had been doing an amazing job with helping him deal with the increased needs for medicine and treatment that came with the small boom in there meager population.

Yuui had really started to blossom into a feisty little spell slinger, and as the older twin had predicted—he was learning magic much more quickly now that he had gotten the hang of his first spell. He still wasn't to the point where he would be of much use in a real battle, but Fai was ecstatic to see him progressing and gaining much needed confidence.

Since they had gotten the hang of not blowing things up and using raw power to protect—they had branched out to more in-depth sensing and filtering when it came to magic—as well as controlling the explosions they caused on purpose.

Yuui really liked blowing things up—but was always afraid to over power his attacks and they were currently working on trusting their instincts and switching between attack and defense spells quickly.

Fai had had his hands full between all of this—but today he and Sakura were working on cleaning out the construction dust from the new additions and getting the rooms ready for the staff they would have to hire. It was late summer, and the heat was finally starting to wane down towards the fall temperatures—so they had every window and door in the entire house open to welcome the lazy breeze to keep them cool.

Yuui was currently just outside the room they were polishing—lounging in the grass half asleep with Mokona snuggled up next to him enjoying the weather.

Times like this were priceless.

Fai found himself missing them even though they hadn't even left Suwa yet… At Yuui's age he never would have imagined his heart could hold so much happiness and love for a family he never thought he would have.

All good things came to an end however—and the older blonde was distracted from his woolgathering when he felt his little twins magic spike with anxiety.

He tensed and looked out the window to see the child had shot up to his tippy toes and was squinting in the direction of the town.

Fai took a deep breath—lord only knows what it was now…

A fire? Someone coming to fetch him because one of the village men had been injured? God forbid it was Kurogane or Syaoran who had been hurt…

Leaning out the window and craning his neck, Fai frowned as his eyes settled on a little girl running down the path to the estate at a quick pace.

"What's the matter Fai?" The princess frowned as she came to join him.

"Let's go find out, shall we?" The blonde slapped on a smile and made his way out of the house via the open window that led to what should be the eastern garden. Yuui wordlessly followed both he and the princess, arms wrapped around himself protectively while Mokona chattered in his ear happily.

Fai recognized her as one of Katsuya's grand children and was relived to see that she didn't look hurt as she skid to a stop and bent over in an attempt to catch her breath after such a long sprint.

Poor dear.

"Is something wrong little one?" Fai knelt down to her level to better look her over—other then being out of breath she seemed to be injury free.

"Grandma told me to come tell you that the baby wants to come out!" The small girl, who was a few years younger then his tiny twin, thankfully didn't seem upset at that news. She beamed with excitement, nearly hopping from foot to foot.

"I see. Well come wait with us while I grab some things to help the new mama and we will all go together." Fai grabbed her hand and started back towards the house.

He didn't like it when the young children wandered to far from the edge of the village—it was much safer then it used to be, but they should still be careful with the young ones. The little girl didn't seem to mind at all and waited with the princess and Yuui while Fai grabbed a prepacked bag he had gotten around for just this occasion.

Katsuya's first grate grand daughter was going to be the very first baby born in Suwa since it had been resettled. The entire village had been waited eagerly for his or her's arrival. A few tonics to ease the new mother's nerves and a good amount of disinfectant would be needed—as well as he and Kurogane's gift to the very important new baby.

He found Sakura waiting with the two children just outside of the house and offered him happy grin of her own. He knew the princess loved babies—the littler the better.

"Has anyone gone to fetch the new papa?" Fai slung his bag over his shoulder and smiled down at the little girl.

"I don't know." She answered after a moment and Fai nodded.

"We'll find out soon enough I suppose. Everyone take a few deep breaths—" Fai started to trace a few sparking runes and ignored the way Yuui went pale when he realized they were going to be traveling via magic.

His stomach still didn't agree with magical forms of transportation unfortunately.

Luckily, he was quickly distracted from his queasiness as they landed just outside the general store where Katsuya and her family lived together. The old woman waddled out to meet them with an excited smile and welcomed them in right away.

"You didn't have to rush Fai-sama. Were not even sure if this is just baby practicing yet." The old woman motioned for him to follow and he had Yuui stay with the little girl and wait.

Unfortunately, this was no place for a little boy to be asking little boy questions. Not that Yuui seemed to mind—not when Grandma Katsuya offered the children mochi while they waited.

Fai and Sakura had been to visit Kirimi a few times and she had been on bed rest for the last few weeks. She looked relived to see them both and offered a tired smile as he came to her side. "And how is the soon-to-be mama feeling?"

"I knew it was supposed to hurt but this little one is seriously trying to kill me. Its all in my back…"

No wonder she looked so haggered.

Poor dear.

Fai luckily couldn't relate—and for that he was thankful.

"I brought some things to help with that don't worry. Has anyone sent for your husband or is still out gallivanting around with the rest of them?" It was a little past the time Fai had guessed the baby would be here—he should have told Kurogane to have him stay home.

"He's still—oh my—" Kirimi grimaced and Fai set his bag down to get the first of the potions he had prepared. If there was one thing all the female wizards of Celese could be known for, it was there aptitude for healing magic and potion making. Of course, they had developed a few different recipes to help ease labor pains.

"Try this and see if it helps. Drink it quickly, it'll help but its gross." The woman did as instructed and Fai recapped the empty bottle and handed it to Sakura. "I'll go send for your husband and you two will get though his ok?"

"Thank you Fai-sama."

"Sakura can you stay with her for a moment? I have to send Yuui out for the Doggy Duo and our wayward new papa." Of course, the princess nodded and switched spots with him.

Kurogane hadn't had the pleasure of looking after Yuui since the children had arrived earlier in the season. This was no place for a little boy though—so he was just going to have to stop his demon murder spree until their newest citizen arrives.

Yuui would have fun with the big boys he was sure—even though he usually preferred to stick as close to Fai as he could. He found the little blonde just outside the house with a few of the other village children and the shop keeper feeding them more treats.

"Yuu." The child's head whipped around and Fai didn't miss that he managed a neutral expression while his magic leaked with nervous energy. He was getting better at looking less terrified around the other children—but Fai knew better then to believe his cute little expression anymore.

He had been a fast learner when it came to Fai's own bad habits.

"Are you feeling brave today?" He would send someone else if his twin was two afraid to go—but Fai knew he would be able to handle himself.

Yuui only needed to trust in his new found abilities.

"I want to help." Cerulean eyes that matched his own looked determined, but the child's magic betrayed him again.

As long as he wasn't panicked it was ok to be nervous—he could still focus his magic and spell weave if he needed too.

"I want to you go home and get your horse ready to ride out and find Kuro-sama and tell him that the baby is coming and if they don't hurry back, they will miss it." Fai said in a serious tone and the child nodded at him.

"I can't ride very fast—"

"The baby won't be here for hours but the new mama's need lots of snuggles to make them feel better. Were just going to light a little fire under there butts so they don't dally too long. Don't ride faster than you are comfortable—and keep your shield up on your way home and the whole ride out."

Fai would keep Yuui in the back of his mind as he went—he would know if he got into any trouble and could be there within seconds of it was truly necessary. It probably wouldn't but he would rather the little blonde be extra cautious.

This would be the furthest he had sent his twin on his own…

"Can you promise me you will keep your defense spell set the whole way?"

"I Promise." Yuui gave a serious frown and Fai ruffled his hair.

"You can pinpoint their location by feeling for Syaoran's magic. They are almost by the edge of the barrier at the end of the southern path now. You remember the way, right? The same way we go when we check on the little cherry orchard?" Yuui nodded again and Fai gave him a quick hug.

"I promise to be extra careful Fai."

Fai wasn't worried. Even with his transport spell the natural patterns of magic were quite inside of the barrier.

Yuui ran back towards the house—his magic buzzing with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Fai still remembered the feeling of others trusting him with important tasks as a little boy—this was going to help his confidence even if he was a little scared.

Fai waited until his twin had traveled over the hill and out of site before setting a passive sensing spell and heading back into the house. As expected, the tonic had helped Kirimi relax and she was fast asleep when he returned.

When he had examined her, she was just hardly getting started—they were going to be here for a while. He would give her enough of the potion to help her relax until she was in active labor at least—then she would just have to let her do what her body was meant to do.

Poor dear. The baby would no doubt be cute enough to make all this fuss worthwhile.

Sakura was day dreaming when he settled down on the floor next to her and Fai watched her for a moment. He had never specifically asked her if she wanted to stick around—but she was going to be acting as a healer in his stead. This was probably almost as scary for her as the new mother herself.

"I might be wrong about your experiences in Clow since I last saw you—but have you ever seen the miracle of life?" Sakura snapped to attention at his question and her cheeks dusted pink.

"No... Not many royal babies back home lately." Fai chuckled at that.

She and Syaoran were getting to that age. No doubt there was royal baby fever sweeping across the sandy country. Fai had been a prince at one time and thankfully Ashura had never forced him to marry or produce an heir—that didn't stop every lord from shoving their daughters his way, and ladies commenting on how wonderfully his soft features would look on a little prince or princess.

"Its up to you if you want to see it in all of its bloody glory. The baby is always cute—the rest is a lot of screaming, crying, and surprise bodily fluids splashing you when you least expect it." Fai had spent a number of years apprenticing under a healer in Celese before proving to himself that he was less then useless at healing magic. During his time as an apprentice he had seen plenty of babies born though, and he wasn't fazed by it any longer.

Fai liked babies a lot—he loved to snuggle them and give them back to mom or dad and continue on his merry way.

"That sounds terrible…" Sakura went slightly pale and shot the mother to be an apologetic look.

"Its also wonderful birth control you know. In case you and Syaoran catch baby fever while Kuro-chan and I are away you can remember exactly how much fun Kirimi has today if you need to resist." Fai laughed as the princess went from pale as a ghost to cherry red at the notion.

Fai couldn't wait till they decided to start a family of their own—if ever they decided that was what they wanted for themselves. They were getting to that age, but waiting a few years wouldn't hurt them. In Celese most of the population had strong enough magic that their aging process was affected to some degree—it was very common to wait until later in life to have children—especially when the draft had been active on all war capable magic users and healers.

In Suwa families were started young though, and Kurogane was considered an old man by his homeland's standards. Fai's vampire nature and regular feedings slowed his prays aging process however. So he was a lot older then he looked, even though he was still a lot younger then Fai.

"Maybe Syaoran should hang out here too then." Sakura was looking down at her hands as she spoke. "He recently brought up… um… the whole baby thing."

Had he?

"The whole baby thing hm?" Fai knew he had become a sort of mother figure to the princess and he was tickled pink she felt comfortable enough to discuss this with him. "What did you say when he brought it up?"

"Uh—I told him that it would be nice… To start a family." Sakura smiled softly. "It just wasn't right back in Clow though—things were too complicated with there being two sets of us…"

That made sense—Fai had always assumed the clones would spend a few years with original before deciding to settle elsewhere. The whole situation was oddly complicated and slightly awkward given the time travel, history altering goo that had forced them all together.

"You know—you could always just set up shop with Kurogane and I. We would be ecstatic to have you here and if you feel crowded, we can always get you set up in your own house." Not only would it bring he and the ninja pure joy to have the kids close all of the time—but it was politically a good move.

He and Kurogane were lacking heirs to pass Suwa on to, and Syaoran and Sakura were for all intents and purposes, there children. Even if he and Kurogane lived to be old and gray—or god forbid outlived Syaoran and Sakura with the help of the Vampire nonsense—they could rely on their children to continue to protect Suwa.

"We don't want to impose Fai." The hopeful look is Sakura's eyes was a good sign that he had a chance at recruiting them to the dark side yet.

"Its not an imposition. I don't think we would be managing at the moment if we didn't have you two helping. You fit right in and we missed our babies terribly. I get so sad thinking about you two going back to Clow again."

They fit right in to Suwa—and Yuui had quickly become attached to them as well. He would also be heartbroken when they left for home.

"You really think it could work? I mean we won't get in the way of you and Kurogane starting your life together or anything?" Sakura didn't just look excited anymore—the excitement was bleeding into her voice as she spoke now as well.

Even if what she had said hadn't made much sense.

"Don't be ridicules. We started our life together when we started traveling years ago. It makes us happy to see you two grow and become fine adults—we're already old and grown."

There were not a whole lot of firsts left for them—except maybe there first grandchild?

"What about Yuui—he won't feel like were taking all the attention from him right? He's still so little…" Sakura had taken to Yuui from her very first day in Clow and Yuui was looking at her almost like an older sister, possibly a mother figure.

Fai himself had never quite recovered after his mother's suicide in Valerie and in all his time in Celese he had avoided growing close to his nanny's and female care takers—no matter how kind they were. Even though Ashura had raised him as his son—he had never looked at the king's wife as anything other than the queen. Aside from Chii who wasn't human—Sakura was really the only woman in his life had managed to form any sort of bond with.

Yuui had probably picked up on that—and he snuggled the princess almost as much as he snuggled Fai.

"I don't think he wants the two of you to go home anymore then I do. He is really attached to you and Syaoran." Fai was happy that Yuui could have a positive female role model—especially one as sweet as Sakura. The poor thing still missed his own mother terribly.

He had confided in Fai a few times that although he was so happy to have Fai and Kurogane to take care of him—he really missed his mama.

Fai had purposefully tired not to assume anything bad about the woman—but he wished she had done a better job with Yuui… At least she herself had never hurt the child. That Fai was grateful for.

"I'll talk to Syaoran about it… After spending so much time with you guys again I don't think I want to go back home. We could all be so happy together here." Sakura had a soft smile on her face, no doubt picturing the future.

"Good—let me know if I need to bully him. I can be very persuasive." The blonde winked and princess chuckled at him.

"So other then taking care of Yuui do you and Kurogane have any plans…" Fai furrowed his browns at the change of subject.

Plans?

"I'm not sure I follow?"

"For any more kids I mean…" Sakura clarified, and Fai almost snorted at the thought.

No—no plans for any more little humans to worry about. Fai loved having Yuui but that was only because the child shared a soul with his lost twin… He and Kurogane had discussed the possibility of adopting a few times before Yuuko had asked them to take in Yuui—and the ninja had expressed interest in taking in an orphan or two.

He had told Fai how when he was a child his mother and father always wished they had been able to have a lot of children to shower with love—So they would tease Kurogane by saying he was just going to have to make their dreams come true by having a hoard of children one day so they could shower there grandchildren with affection instead.

While that had been a giant stab in the freaking heart—And the thought of Kurogane's parents telling him that as a little boy was the cutest thing the mage had ever heard from his stern lover—Fai just did not share those feelings.

That wasn't to say that the second he saw a kid without a family he wouldn't scoop them up and smother them with love—but he had never dared imagine a small child calling him daddy or papa. It dragged up all sorts of insecurities from being accused of having cursed blood, being so tainted that he had literally poisoned the very air he breathed, and so one and so forth.

There was way to much baggage not to gag at being referred to as a father… He was Fai-mommy the eccentric wizard who was a boy and not possibly related to Little Cat or Little Dog.

"I am very lucky that I am a boy and don't have to worry about any happy accidents like most couples—and while we tossed around the idea of adopting—" Fai sighed. It was a bit of a touchy subject.

Kurogane had always wanted a big family. They already had a wonderful family though, so if the kids stuck around hopefully the issue would be forgotten.

"—we aren't going to seek it out. If it happens like it did with Yuui then that's another story but Kuro-chan is stuck with a partner who would much rather focus on the kids we already have then adding anymore to the collection."

Sakura nodded slowly—no doubt aware of just how touchy a subject it was. Fai wanted to be forthright and honest with her that their family was established and not expanding, so they could focus all of there attention on Syaoran and Sakura's future kids.

"Anyway—We'll see if you still want any after the new baby arrives. You might just mentally scar yourself into waiting!"

0o0o0

Yuui wasn't so sure if he was comfortable fibbing for Fai—but he hurried home quickly anyways. Maybe Fai was wrong and the new baby was going to be here sooner rather then later and they really did need to hurry.

His horse came to him right away when he went to the gate of the grassy field the unused horses spend the day in. He wasn't scared of the animal anymore—not since Sakura had been taking time each day to show him how silly the playful the beast actually was.

He was a goofy little guy and liked to give kisses and sneak into his brother's garden and eat all of the radishes.

Carefully he led the gelding back to the barn and used the step stool to reach his back more easily. He had gotten so good at tacking his horse that Fai didn't even double check it for him anymore—But Yuui still checked all the buckles and hooks twice himself just to be sure.

He had a little trouble climbing up himself—even with the help of the stool to give him extra inches—but a few tries later and was seated comfortably. Before he even left the safety of the barn he drew the runes for his shield and made it big enough to cover both he and his horse.

After he had learned how to easily weave the spell, Fai had taught him how to change the color or it as well as make it invisible, so he didn't scare his horse. Once that spell stabilized, Yuui closed his eyes and zeroed in on where Syaoran's magic was strongest. He couldn't sense it as easily has he sensed Fai's, but he was right where his brother had told him they would be.

He rode as fast as he was comfortable—which still wasn't very fast compared to how Kurogane and Syaoran would go tearing away from the house in the early hours of the morning. They were gaining ground though and he could feel the distance between his own magic and Syaoran's closing.

This wasn't the first time Fai had sent him to fetch the doggie doe, or to ride to one the close by farms to deliver some sweets or medicine. He always got nervous on these trips—but his brother had taught him how to use all sorts of useful magic to protect himself.

On the rare occasions that there was trouble, or he got scared of something or someone—all he had to do was loosen his careful hold on his magic and the defensive shield would spark and glow brightly and the wave of energy it released caught Fai's attention.

He hoped he would be able to handle the easier demons that lived around the village soon… That way he wouldn't have to pull the adults away from there important jobs.

They never complained—but Yuui didn't like feeling useless.

Fai had trusted him with a very important job though, so he focused his attention on his passive sensing and kept pushing to maintain a quick pace as they trailed down the main road that led to the bottom of Suwa.

With his senses open he could feel everyone fighting before he could see them—and he stopped at the top of the hill to watch from a safe distance on the safe side of the barrier.

From the top of the hill he had a pretty good view of what was going on. Kurogane and Syaoran were the only ones fighting—the rest of the warriors observing as the two of them fought back to back against the demons.

Fai had taken Yuui to observe from a distance a few times—he wasn't good enough at his control yet to even attempt to face one of the monsters—and his fledgling skills with a sword were not much better. Watching the way Kurogane and Syaoran moved though had taught him a lot about the mechanics of fighting.

When the last of the beasts had fallen Yuui carefully sent his mount forward again—approaching as the adults attention was turned to him one by one. The men in the village were always kind to him—but they gave him the same wary stares that they gave his twin when they thought he wasn't looking. He wouldn't dare approach them if it weren't for the two familiar faces watching him now that they were back atop there own horses.

"Does Fai know you're out this far all alone?" The ninja's voice boomed across the short distance as he kicked his own mount forward to meet the little twin.

"Fai wants me to tell you that the baby is coming and if you guys don't hurry back you're gonna miss it." Yuui tried to quote his brother as closely as possible and he hoped he sounded convincing. "He also said the new mommy's need snuggles and to get Taka." The child added for good measure—so it was a little less fibbish.

Kurogane swore under his breath and ran a hand though his sweaty hair—leaving it sticking up at silly angles while he waited for the other men to catch up. "Looks like were gonna call it a day—"

Yuui saw the adults shoot each other annoyed looks and Kurogane turned his attention to Taka. "—Because _someone's_ kid decided now was the only time to make a grand entrance."

"Wait… Kirimi?" The color drained form the mans face and his eyes got impossible wide.

Yuui thought Taka would be excited—he just looked scared. He had never thought that babies were scary—but he hadn't really been around any babies that he could remember…

"Yup. Better bust ass before you miss this shit and your wife murders you and your kid grows up without a dad." The ninja gave the father to be a wolfish grin and the rest of the group laughed.

That didn't make much sense… Why would she murder her husband?

Yuui was about to ask just that when Kurogane leaned over and lifted him from his horse and setting him on his own mount—securing him with an arm around the waist.

"Hey—I can ride alo—"

"You heard the mage—we gotta hurry so no complaining." Syaoran rode up next to them and grabbed Yuui's horses reins so he could lead the animal after his own.

The little blonde didn't even have a chance to offer any protests because there group took off as though hell was on there heels. At least it felt like that to Yuui.

They made the trip back in no time compared to Yuui's ride out—and soon he was lifted down and set on shaky legs to follow the adults into Grandma Katsuya's shop.

Yuui heard a woman shriek in the back of the house and Taka almost tripped in his attempt to make it down the hall.

"Why is she screaming?" the little blond wrapped his arm around Kurogane's leg—stopping him from taking the seat that the shopkeeper offered him. "Is she dying?"

That sounded like someone had hurt her—really really bad.

"No, she's not dying. Fai already told you the baby is coming." Kurogane lifted him up and Yuui wrapped his arms around his neck as they both settled down at the table.

"Does is hurt?" as if on que there was another strangled yell and Yuui tensed—earning a laugh from Grandma Katsuya.

What was so funny? Taka had looked scared—was if it really was scary? Why else would she be screaming? Yuui liked Kirimi!

"Yeah kid."Kurogane answered and Syaoran was trying to hide his smile behind his hands as he watched them—why was he smiling? Was there something Yuui wasn't getting?

"Like the whole time?" Fai had told him earlier that the baby may not be here until late into the night or possibly tomorrow…

That sounded awful.

"I guess? Look I don't know if you can tell by looking at me—but I haven't exactly given birth twerp." Syaoran choked on air in his attempt to hold back laughter and Kurogane glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Why does it hurt?" couldn't Fai help her? He could make all sorts of medicine to help with pain after all—was that why they were here?

"Ask Fai." Kurogane sighed.

Normally when the ninja used that line it was because whatever the answer was, he wanted would upset him… Not knowing the answer only made it worse and Yuui's mind started racing away from him.

She was going to die, wasn't she?

That's why Kurogane didn't want to tell him?

Could Yuui really wait for an answer?

"But he's not here…"

"Yeah well we won't be here much longer. Just gonna check with your brother then go home and wait for him to finish delivering the new brat."

Yuui let his head thump down against the ninja's chest… he knew better then to keep asking the irritated ex ninja questions he didn't want to answer… Fai would tell him.

Surly if it was really bad Kurogane wouldn't keep him in the dark... Right?

As if on que Fai emerged from the room at the end of the hall closing the door behind him, and he quickly made his way to the room they were all waiting in. Fai flashed Yuui a worried look, he could always tell when the little twin was nervous from his magic…

He had so much he wanted to ask Fai but before he had a chance to pick out which question was the most important Fai gave them all a tired smile. "Ok boys. Sakura and I are going to be tired up until the baby arrives—which is not for a while."

"You sent Yuui to get us like the kid was gonna be here yesterday idiot." Kurogane growled out and Fai's smile brightened into a silly grin.

"I know you would rather have Taka to finish your hunting, but he is off limits till I say so. This is no place for cranky ninja, archaeologist, or little boys so I'm kicking you out."

"Yeah yeah. Don't have too much fun or convince poor Kirimi to name the kid something freaky ok?" Yuui clung to Kurogane as they stood up and both he and Syaoran headed to the door without any complaint.

"Don't burn the house down when you make dinner!" Fai called after them and Yuui was frowning fiercely as he was sat atop his horse to go back home.

He continued to scowl as they took care of the animals and headed into the cool house to wait…

This was so frustrating…. Wasn't there something he could do to help?

"Quite worrying kid." The ninja ruffled up his hair as he passed him on the way to the new kitchen.

How was he not supposed to worry? No one would explain what was going on… its not like he was gonna forget if they ignored him long enough.

"Oi, Syaoran. Sake?" Kurogane brought a tray out with some sake glasses and the unopened bottle of the 'good stuff' he had brought back from the capital. He also had a glass filled with juice for Yuui and they all settled down in front of the open doors of one of the newer rooms in the house.

Yuui liked this room a lot because they could open all the doors and sit in the breezy house while looking out at Fai's flower garden. Both of the twins and Sakura took turns weeding and watering the flowers and it was really turning into something beautiful.

"Yeah. Thanks." The brunette sat across from the ninja and smiled as the older man filled his glass with the sharp smelling liquid.

He had no idea why adults drank that stuff—Fai had let him sip the sake once and the child was pretty sure it was the grossest thing he had ever tired.

It smelled like mama's nail polish remover and he assumed it probably tasted similar.

"Its gonna be a long ass night for Sakura and the mage." Kurogane sighed. Yuui drank a bit of his juice and watched as both adults sipped the gross liquid without even the smallest grimace.

"I feel bad that they have to go through all of that and we just get to take a day off and day drink." Kurogane nodded in agreement and a small silence fell over them.

Yuui yawned loudly drawing their attention as he rubbed at his eyes.

Normally he laid down after lunch and took a little nap before his afternoon lessons—he had been almost tired enough to lay down when they excitement had started… He didn't want to sleep and miss Fai getting home, just in case it didn't take as long as they thought.

Even the sugar in the fruit juice did little to perk him up though…

"You didn't take a nap today did you?" Kurogane looked at Yuui with a stern expression and the little blond shook his head back and forth.

"You don't have to sleep if you don't want to—but you don't get to turn into a cranky brat because you're tired."

Yuui knew the rules… He just really didn't want to miss anything. Wordlessly he finished off the last of his juice and slid across the floor and laid down with his head resting on the Kurogane's thigh—eyes lazily looking out at the garden.

"I didn't mean sleep on me twerp." A heavy had roughly slid over his hair and Yuui yawned again.

"You didn't say I couldn't." Kurogane wouldn't move him—he always let Yuui cling however he liked.

Syaoran laughed and Kurogane mumbled our a few curses before taking another sip of his sake.

"I never would have guessed that you would be so good with little kids." Syaoran was watching them with a warm expression and Kurogane snorted.

Kurogane could be a gump but he was always kind to Yuui and other kids in the village. Fai had told him before that when he had first met Kurogane he had forgotten how to trust and love others—and that he had been pretty scary.

The little twin couldn't imagine anything but the sharp eyed, lovably cranky, occasionally sweet ex ninja that he was. He just looked scary—he was only dangerous if you were a bad guy.

"Only because he and Fai are so alike. I became the idiot whisperer sometime after Acid Tokyo remember?" Kurogane didn't like it when people realized he was a big ol' softie so Yuui wasn't surprised by his answer.

"You shouldn't call Fai names." At least Fai's nicknames were nice most of the time—if not a little on the silly side.

"That's just how he expresses his love." Syaoran winked at him and Yuui nodded. Fai had told him the same thing more then once.

The child wondered what was wrong with simply saying I love you… He had never heard ether Fai or Kurogane say that simple phrase but it was easy to see even for a kid like himself.

"Who the hell said I love him?" Kurogane didn't manage to pack any anger into his words, Yuui could hear a soft smile as he grumbled.

"Really Kurogane?" Syaoran sighed and finished off his glass before pouring himself another. "I don't even need to bring up cutting off your arm, agreeing to become his prey, or shaking up together in your childhood home. I can't unsee the things I've walked in on over the years."

There was a short pause and Yuui had to shift so he could look up to see the stare off that was occurring.

"Tch. Whatever. Maybe I do." Yuui saw the ninjas tanned cheeks flush and he wasn't entirely sure what he was missing.

"What did you see?" The child shot back up into a sitting position and watched as the brunette's cheeks also flushed.

"Nothing." Both the adults said in unison and Yuui frowned.

Why was everything such a huge secret today? It wasn't fair! Fai was his twin he should get to know… the child added that to his list of things to ask his brother when he got back from delivering the baby and laid back down to pout.

How does one deliver a baby anyways? The postman delivered packages… but how come Fai had to deliver the baby? Where was it anyways?

"Syaoran?" Yuui blinked a few times to chase away his drowsiness before flashing his best puppy dog eyes—they always worked on Fai and even sometimes on Kurogane. "You like to learn stuff, right?"

Syaoran seemed puzzled by the latest twist in the conversation and nodded —but there was a point.

"So, you know about a lot of different things, right?" the brunette looked even more confused as he nodded again.

Good.

"I have a question…" Yuui intensified the puppy dog stare and so far, it seemed to be working.

"Yeah sure whats up?" Syaoran was like Fai in the way that he usually answered all of Yuui's questions no matter how silly or plentiful they were.

"If Fai has to deliver the baby—where is he going to get it form?" Syaoran looked suddenly mortified and Yuui pushed his bottom lip out in hopes that maybe being a tiny but cuter he might earn an answer.

"Uh… I mean—you see—" the brunette stuttered before flashing Kurogane a pleading look.

Kurogane only shook his head. "You walked right into that one kid."

"Please? I'm so worried about Ms. Kirimi… It all sounds so scary…" If the cute card didn't work the scardy cat card might. "Why was she screaming?"

"Uh the baby is in her tummy. That's why her stomach is so round."

Oh.

Oh…

Wait what?

What did he mean it was in her tummy? How the heck did it get there and how was Fai going to get it out?

"How did it get the—"

"Ok squirt." Kurogane interrupted and Syaoran looked like he had just been saved form the hangman's noose. "I'm gonna explain this one time. Got it? You have any more questions and you ask Fai when you guys are way the hell away from Syaoran and I."

"Ok… But how come I can't ask him whenever? How come when you're not around?" Was Kurogane not supposed to tell him? Yuui didn't want to get him in trouble with Fai—his twin was scary when he was mad.

"That's the trade off. Do you wanna know or don't you?" Kurogane knocked back another drink and Yuui nodded.

"I am not drunk enough to deal with this shit…" One more drink and Yuui sat up so he could see the ninjas expression better. "Fucking mage and not explaining this shit to you… leaving me to do all the fucking hard shit…"

One more drink and those red eyes finally locked in his own. "When two ADULTS—emphasis on age here twerp—the adult part is important."

"Ok." That made sense—Yuui was sure he would know about it if it was a kid thing.

"When you do it the proper way—two adults fall in love—get married—and decide they want to have a baby. So they do. They wait 9 long months for the baby to grow in the mom's stomach and when its done cooking the baby decides to come out. Mom's have different equipment then dads so the baby can be born but its very hard on her. Fai is there to make sure that she is taken care of and the baby doesn't get stuck or anything but Kirimi is doing all of the real work which is why she was in pain. Once the kid is born, she will feel better."

Oh…

Well at least she is gonna feel better.

"Wha—"

"No. No more questions about Kirimi or the baby. If you're still confused the mage will explain." Kurogane sighed loudly.

"It's not about Ms. Kirimi… its about Fai." The ninja gave him a skeptical look. Yuui wasn't trying to trick him for information or anything like that… But there was one thing that Kurogane had mentioned that raised a whole new issue.

"Is it about what Fai is currently doing?" Yuui shook his head back and forth.

"It's a totally different question." The child assured him.

"Fine. Spit it out brat." Kurogane went to take a sip of his drink—

"If you and Fai are both adults who love each other—is Fai going to have a baby too?" Maybe they weren't technically married which had been one of the conditions, but that was only because boys weren't allowed to get married here. Which was stupid.

Yuui had half expected Kurogane to tell him not to ask stupid questions—maybe tell him that they didn't want a baby—Yuui could have even believed that he might get a story about how they couldn't because they were not allowed to get married.

—Yuui had not expected for the sake to shoot out of the ninja's nose. He just snorted, or choked, or maybe swallowed wrong as soon as the little blond had finished his sentence and was not able to provide much of an answer as he started coughing.

He was however able to curse rather colorfully as Syaoran doubled over in laughter.

Yuui was seriously confused by these two today… He couldn't wait till Fai was home to tell him what the heck was going on.

 **0o0o0**

 **I really hated the flow of this chapter and I feel like its shitty. I also don't know if this is just my anxiety being mean to me or if there is a lack in the actual quality. I decided to suck it up and post this baby today and ask for constructive criticism.**

 **Rather then continue to fret and rewrite and rewrite I figured I would just move on and ask for tips if you have any rather then stall out on this story because I am stuck. So please! let me know what I can do to improve the flow.**

 **I am thinking that I might swap updates for this fic and my other KuroFai Fic I have going at the moment just because I would like to focus on quality rather then quantity. So this would be updated every other week vs. every week. Were already sitting at about 70k ish for this bad boy and we haven't even left Suwa yet which was supposed to be the main plot. I've decided to do a few small time skips cover 1-2 months at a time and only highlight major plot/sub plot points to help move things along. you can expect 4-5 chapters before we leave Suwa and who knows how many after? I have 30 some outlined?**

 **Anyways your support means everything and thank you for joining me on this journey!**


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter really got away from me.**

 **I think I have spent more time writing—reworking—changing—and adding to this one chapter then I have the entire story combined. When I started this I had just posted chapter 6 or 7 so I've had then to play with it and I should have stopped but I didn't.**

 **This goes sooooo far away from the outline but I LOVE it. For some reason Yuui didn't want to do what I wanted him to do and all the underlying feels he's been holding in ripped my soul apart and derailed everything… I just got to thinking about how the characters would really feel and Yuui is still just a little boy healing from a very bad situation.**

 **This is a much needed detour though so I am sorry for the sudden angst but what can I do? It fits and its beautiful and I cried so much! Ugh… Please be warned the last half of the chapter crushed my soul and may crush yours as well.**

 **I don't own Tsubasa.**

0o0o0

Fall in Suwa was beautiful and Fai was currently leaning towards deeming it his new favorite season. Years ago, before fate had seen fit to uproot his life and send him off to meet his destiny, his favorite season had been winter. It was quite calm, and everyone hunkered down and rested after months spent preparing for the deep snows and biting winds. Everything slowed, even the political demands of royalty, and he got to have the king mostly to himself.

As a little boy it meant extra time to learn new kinds of magic from his adoptive father, extra time snuggling by the fire and being read to, extra time sneaking treats, drinking coco, and spending time in the safety Luvel castle offered. The festivals and holidays were entertaining and plentiful enough that he didn't even miss playing outdoors.

As an adult it meant enjoying a break from leading armies, time to enjoy his bed and the companions he invited there, late nights of drinking spiced wine and listing to Ashura-ou recount stories of his youthful trysts—and laughing together over the more embarrassing tales. It was a time to soak up the attention and advice from the king and avoid there few duties together before it was time to prepare for the next winter and they had to become the serious leaders Celese required them to be.

Winter in Suwa was more slush then snow, and Fai really hated mud. At least in Celese you were essentially snowed in for the season and there was no reason to venture out into the worst weather of the year… It just did not get that cold here unfortunately—so the snow didn't stay, and even on the dry days it was just cloudy and gloomy.

Spring was soggy as well but at least the sun regularly shined its good graces on them—summer was too hot for him—but fall was nice. Not only was the ungodly heat gone with the changing of leaves—but the air was sweet with the scent of too ripe fruit that was perfect for baking.

Baking was one of his favorite hobbies—a close second to eating baking goods in fact.

The cool nights kept the house comfortable as he ran the ovens, and the baking fruit breads, tarts, and jams made the house smell like the most wonderful place on earth. Sakura and Yuui were helping him with canning, baking, and handing out sweets to the people in the village and surrounding farms. There was a lot that a young child could help with and he and Sakura always enjoyed spending time in the kitchen together.

The natural magic in the land was influenced by the seasons as well and there was a notable decline in the amount of demons running about, so Kuro-chan and Syaoran were keeping busy with training the village children and running people too and from the Capital for supply orders. It allowed them extra time at home and Fai found that priceless.

It was all around lovely in his opinion.

Fai would be enjoying it a heck of a lot more if they weren't having such a terrible time with their largest neighbor. The blond was used to the intricacies of political negotiations—and even though customs were annoyingly traditional and surprisingly racist here in Nihon—he normally enjoyed the push and pull of it. It was challenging and Fai had always needed to be challenged.

He was going to have to accept that he couldn't fix stupid—that wasn't a challenge he could overcome in the few months they had left. That took years and even then, it might just be a lost cause with these lords…

There was hope with their kids—but that was years off.

Knowing that he was going to be in another dimension while his sweet Sakura and brave Syaoran were left to deal with countries biggest, most foolish asshole had him stressed. It was stressing Kurogane out too… And you didn't mess with his Kuro-sama's piece of mind.

Not on his watch.

Fai of course did what he did best, and had been strategizing and problem solving.

He accepted that to overcome this challenge he was going to have to let Takeda remain in his current ignorant, racist, hateful, rude, and blood thirsty state. As much as that made his skin twitch—he had started to look at other options.

Whether his current plan was born from his genius or a serious lack of sleep he couldn't say—but he had spent most of the night scribbling down a mess of runes that he hoped to refine into something actually usable.

You could do almost anything with magic if you were willing to get creative enough. Fai had always been told he was overly eccentric, which was almost the same thing as creative right?

As a master spell weaver, he was pretty good at creating new spells too. When you studied enough different types of spells you could pull them apart and mix the runes to create hybrids or new spells entirely. He used to have a little two much fun in his younger days creating new flashy displays of magic to impress Ashura-ou and his tutors. He had eventually gotten pretty good at it, to the point he could throw some runes together on the fly and usually not cause to much of a disaster.

Usually.

Even with years of experience it was impossible to predict an outcome of throwing raw, unstable runes together. After a few big disasters as a teen, he had thankfully learned to try his experiments outside and behind a pretty strong barrier if there was the slightest chance things could go sideways.

This newest hodgepodge of persuasion runes, powerful intents, and patterns that were supposed to refeed the spell to hold its stability, could go sideways a number of ways.

This wasn't really the exploding type of spell though… while that might sound like a good thing—it was actually a very scary thing.

He could protect himself from an explosion.

If this went sideways it would backfire sure—by frying his brain.

Probably.

There was always that chance when one used magic on someone or somethings will.

If you didn't precisely control your own power, you could damage what you were trying to weave your own will with—and if you didn't use enough power, or the person or objects will was stronger than your own, the recoil shot right back at the user when the spell shattered.

Even with an aptitude towards this type of magic—even Fai had to be careful when playing with these runes.

Fai was good at this kind of magic for the simple reason that he had enough raw power to bully his way though the spell without an issue—he was more worried about not crossing the thin line between a successful weave and totally melting his targets brain with too much power.

It wasn't as though he would know the precise amount of strength he would need since this spell was being tweaked and altered enough that it hardly resembled anything he had used in the past…

There was prior experience to go off of, but Fai was winging this mostly. With how he had twisted the known spells to combine them with spells they were not designed to be used alongside this was risky business.

As a royal wizard he had been one of the few magic users in Celese who had been taught how to use magic to weave things like emotions, motives, and thoughts. This particular art was not only extremely difficult to master, but was closely protected by the royal family since it could be used to override other humans will completely. That obviously wasn't ok unless the circumstances were severe, and Celese had put a tremendous amount of trust in him when he had been chosen to pass the art to.

While it could be used to trample over someone's free will—he hadn't been taught it for anything like that. Most of the time persuasion and control spells were used to gently calm someone or suggest feelings of happiness or bravery. It was used in a number of religious ceremonies that the royal family conducted on key holidays, and the citizens attending were left feeling warm and with a feeling of national pride.

The most common use of this spell, and the soul reason he had been allowed to learn it was to conduct said ceremonies, the most common of which was the blessing of royal army before battle. It was an ancient melody sung in old Celesian—when performed by a member of the royal family such as himself or the king, the music was laced with persuasion magic. Encouraging intense feelings of protection, bravery, and honor.

Ashura-ou had used the same type of gentle persuasion on Fai as a child to help him sleep—just like Fai did for Yuui when he was having a hard time settling. Nine times out of ten it was totally harmless especially when delivered though song or dance.

He could count the number of times he had used persuasion magic in a hard cast with raw power like he was currently piecing together on one hand. Weaving the spell manually like this had a stronger effect and was rarely necessary.

Fai had almost always strictly followed the rules and laws set about these types of spell. He had never used this knowledge to totally control anyone else's will—only to suggest feelings like calmness or sleepiness. He had never used it to tamper with memories or in any sort of interrogation setting. The only time in his entire life he had used this power in a way that broke the rules was when he had commanded the King to a deep dreamless sleep.

He should NOT have done that.

Fai also shouldn't even be considering using it again now—even if it was to protect Suwa. This was a terrible example to Yuui even if it he wasn't going to use it on another human…

Kurogane was definitely going to kick his ass if he did this—his sweet twin might join in on that too.

This was totally insane.

If he stabilized the spell and pulled it off though there would be nothing to worry about while they were gone. So even though the little angle on his shoulder told him to find a different way—the little devil had had him up all night working out a powerful persuasion spell to permanently trap another beings will until he released the spell.

If this was a human, he wouldn't have anything to worry about. Humans were weak creatures, and few had the ability to stand against a powerful spell like this—especially if they were not trained to resist magic or see the spell for what it was.

Dragons were very much not human.

Fai wasn't sure what level of intelligence he was up against but instincts were a bitch to overpower—dragons were very instinctual.

It could be done. He knew that for sure.

Dragon charming wasn't a common practice in Celese, and Fai had never tired to do it himself, but he had watched the King pull if off once. Fai had been no older then Yuui when Ashura-ou had snuck them both away from their advisors and guards to do probably one of the most dangerous and stupid things possible for a king and his heir.

Fai had been wowed by Ashura-ou's bravery. At that age the man had seemed like a literal god that day and he remembered it vividly.

They were to face a rival kingdom and king on the battle field later in the day—and Ashura had gotten the idea stuck in his head that riding a dragon into the battle would be a good way to earn a surrender. He had chosen to do this because the odds were not in their favor—not after being forced out in deep winter to defend the Sothern border after disease had swept though and destroyed a large portion of the wheat crop their country depended on.

It worked like a charm too—but the king had gotten in a lot of trouble with Celese's generals and his advisors for the reckless action. Fai can't remember another time after that incident that Ashura-ou had been allowed in the war camps without at least two Court Magicians following him closely.

Ashura had used a skripka to create a melody drenched in calming magic to put the beasts into a submissive state before using runes to meld their wills. After the battle Ashura had been absolutely drained and had been bed ridden for days after using every ounce of his power to battle the beast's wills.

If there had been even the smallest flicker in his will, or the power used to hold that will in place, the spell would have faltered and everyone around would have been put at risk.

Fai was confident in his control to manage binding a dragon or two—it was the fact that he had to find a way to maintain that control while left for a different dimension…

Forcing ones will magically on a beast like a dragon was within the laws—semi permanently binding them was ok as far as that went. Permanently though?

Well it was borderline criminal… Even if dragons were not human.

The fact that he had to break another sacred rule of Wizardry to ensure that the spell didn't falter and fail while he was away was what pushed this waaaaay past his comfort zone… Even though there was no one here to scold him for his bad actions—Fai felt guilty just planning a spell of this nature.

Takeda, the Shogun of Kai, had all but admitted that as soon as he and Kurogane left he was going to attack Suwa. That bastard wasn't bluffing and was thick headed enough to try it.

The Mikado was already going to send a portion of her army to help maintain stability while they were away—but Takeda didn't seem deterred in the slightest. Power hungry fools like him would assume a war amongst the many provinces could be used as an advantage and the lord of Suwa leaving was the perfect opportunity to start such a conflict.

Without being here to fight the idiotic war lord face to face, they were risking leaving the kids behind to fight a war. The only thing that would scare the thick-headed Shogun into submission was probably the guardian spirit of the land torching part of his army if they dared cross into its territory.

Nihon was extremely traditional and held deep rooted beliefs in such things.

Such an omen would not be ignored even if Fai fabricated it. Especially not by a man who insisted in calling him 'the Suwa bastards Yosei whore.'

He told himself it was worth the risks and he wasn't going to let anyone change his mind…

He was just going to have to deal with being a law braking shit bag to protect his sweet family. Even if said sweeter then sugar family got mad at him for the plan…

It was a calculated risk—especially considering the possibility of the spell backfired on the caster. If it didn't work, he would get eaten by a dragon but If it did work, he would take the ass beating from Kuro-chan and they could happily leave knowing that Syaoran and Sakura wouldn't be fighting their battles for them.

Especially not with the princess in such a delicate state.

As if on que Fai's keen vampire hearing picked up a small commotion from the kid's room and he looked up just in time to see Sakura rush down the hall to the lavatory.

Poor dear.

It seems that witnessing the miracle of life a few months back hadn't been good birth control after all… The poor things baby fever had only gotten worse the more time she spent at Katsuya's shop. She found an excuse almost every day to stop up and see the new little baby girl that had bewitch the entire village.

To be fair—it was a really really cute baby. Named after the woman who had helped deliver her—Little Sakura was the pride of her family and Fai was sure she would grow to be just as beautiful and strong as her name sake.

Fai gathered up his notes and set them aside before heading down the hall with some cool water for his adoptive daughter. The mage waited until the sound of gagging stopped before he knocked softly on the door so as not to wake the others.

"Sakura sweetie?" This had been there routine the last few days and She had yet to admit that perhaps her upset stomach and tiredness had nothing to do with a stomach bug or food poisoning.

The princess slid the door of the bathroom open and accepted the glass of water with an exhausted smile. She followed him up the hall taking small sips as she went—and sat at the dining room table to wait while Fai got to making some tea.

He had made some ginger biscuits the other day and they usually did the trick for the princess first thing in the morning. Fai set the treats and tea down in front of Sakura and she thanked him quietly—still not trusting her stomach no doubt.

Fai just smiled patiently at her until a little more color had returned to her cheeks. He wasn't sure if she hadn't put the pieces together in her head yet, was in denial, or not ready to talk about it yet. No doubt it was pretty scary.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Well… If she really wanted to know…

"Just trying to figure out if you're naive or you don't want to talk to me about what's really going on." Its not like Fai had ever apologized for getting in her business before—and he didn't plan to start now.

He had gotten details on She and Syaoran's first kiss—the painfully adorable proposal—had attended the wedding—and have even given her some advice as to how to handle the wedding night.

The princess's cheeks tinged pink and her eyes snapped back down to the cup of tea she was nursing. Fai could see the gears in her head turning as she tried to gather her thoughts and he painterly waited.

"W—what if its all in my head? What if its just a fluke and I get my hopes up and—and—and—Oh my god Fai. What do I do if it's real? If I really am…" Tears started to prickle in her eyes and Fai chuckled before grabbing her hand.

They could deal with ether outcome easily enough. No need for her to be stuck between worrying about both possibilities.

"Want to find out?" It was easy enough to get some solid proof if the obvious morning sickness, slight weight gain, and exhaustion were not good enough signs.

Fai knew where he was putting his money though. He was very excited that the kids were in Suwa for such a wonderful blessing.

"Can—can you really tell?" Sakura looked so relived in that moment that the mage felt guilty for not asking her sooner.

"Yes silly. Follow me and we'll put your mind at ease." Fai helped her up to her feet and the made there way to his make shift apocrathy. With the remodel they had moved 'the medicine' room to a larger space with no windows on the quite side of the house.

It wasn't often that he had to make something that would be affected by sunlight—but it was so nice not to have to bother with blocking the windows. Kurogane couldn't understand why Fai would want to work in such a dark and gloomy spot when most of the home was full of light—but it almost reminded him of his office in Luvel castle, so he felt rather relaxed in his space.

He had reorganized his stashes of herbs, oils, and various other ingredients now that he had the space and shelving to do so, and it took him only a few moments to find what he was looking for. Sakura took a seat on Yuui's stool and watched him as he gathered everything together at the large stone work bench.

There were a few different ways he could make a pregnancy test but the easiest was a simple mixture that would change color when it came into contact with the hormones associated with early pregnancy. Since Sakura was already enjoying morning sickness—they should be able to easily detect those hormones.

In theory at least.

If that didn't work there was other ways to tell though seek spells that would detect the trace amounts of magic that didn't belong to the princess but there would be no visual proof for Sakura, and that seemed to be what she was craving.

Fai hummed absentmindedly as he worked, and Sakura fidgeted with the hem of her sleep shirt as she watched.

"So… I take it Syaoran has no idea?" Fai hoped he got to see the look on his face when he found out. It would be utterly adorable.

"Uh—I mean we both kinda decided that we wouldn't be upset if something did happen… but I don't think he has any idea that I haven't been feeling well." Syaoran was a smart kid but just as dense as Kurogane when it came to these things.

Kurogane had been up twice this week when Sakura had gotten sick—once had been as soon as she had woken up like today—once when she had opened the jar with the pickled plumbs and the smell hadn't agreed with her.

He hadn't said a damn thing other then he hoped she didn't have the flu.

"How did we both end up with such thick headed men?"

To that he earned a little smile.

"As exciting as all of this is—I finally got Yuui to stop asking the baby questions." Fai hadn't expected to come home after Kirimi had had her baby only to have Yuui pull him across the house and ask him all sorts of things.

Later when he had a moment alone with Kurogane he had gotten a very angry explanation of the horrors he was put though by the child with said questions, and had let Fai know that he was on his own the birds and the bees.

Fai was so sad to miss the ninja's course explanation of how babies were delivered and had hardly been able to contain his laughter when Yuui recounted what the had learned and followed It with a question as to why Fai and Kurogane hadn't had a baby yet—if it was because Suwa was mean and wouldn't let them get married or if they didn't like babies.

Obviously the ninja hadn't explained the difference between the two genders to the curious child—and once Fai had given an age appropriate description of said differences—Yuui decided that maybe he really didn't want to know how babies were made.

"I thought you said he was grossed out and didn't want to know?"

"If he is anything like I was as a kid his curiosity will get the best of him. We're also scarily similar so I am sure he will be scarring Kuro-chan with more questions soon." both Fai and the princess laughed at the thought.

Fai was the least easy to embarrass out of the group when it came to such things—in fact—it was pretty much impossible to find something he wasn't comfortable talking about. Growing up in a society full of wizards who often lived for hundreds of years, where said wizards spent those years dedicated to learning magic and science, he had never been taught that the human body or any of its functions were embarrassing. Celese was rather progressive in its views and there were few topics that were considered impolite dinner conversation.

Yuui wasn't quite as bad at Fai when it came to trampling over the social normalities of Nihon—but he defiantly wasn't afraid to ask questions.

"He is gonna be such a good helper though… If—if there even is a… baby."

Fai quirked an eye brow at her—what did she expect to happen if they had enough unprotected sex?

"He will be—he's going to be stuck to you like glue." If Yuui wasn't clinging to Fai he was with the princess these days. The little boy loved bringing her interesting things he found outside in the way that only little boys did—and beamed when Sakura accepted his offerings happily.

It was painfully cute to see him getting closer to her.

No doubt the whole family is going to stick to her like glue with this news—especially Syaoran. He was going to worry over every little sneeze and sniffle even more then he already did when it came to the princess. Hopefully their errand didn't take long, and they would be back before the baby was born.

There was no way to know of course—Yuuko had yet to contact them with anymore information so it was as equally possible that they would miss the baby being born as it was that they would be back after a few short weeks.

It all depended on how fast they found what she needed and how differently time flowed in the two worlds.

There was no point in worrying about it. Fai would make sure that there was a proper healer to help the princess if he was away when the baby decided to arrive… it was what it was at this point.

No point in even bringing up the issue with the probable due date.

Fai grabbed two clean glass vials and divided the mixture equally between them. He found a small needle amongst his utensils and pricked the tip of his ring finger. "Ok—So our base here is a fun green color as you can see."

Sakura nodded and watched as Fai used his free hand and to pinch his finger as he held it over one the vials and added enough pressure to get just enough blood to collect on the tip of his finger for a single drop to fall into the mixture.

As soon as the two liquids made contact the green base bubbled and steamed—turning a deep shade of blue.

"—it will turn blue like this if you're not pregnant. It should turn a pretty red color if you are. Ready to find out?" Fai lazily licked the tip of his finger, his saliva's healing enzymes taking care of the barely noticeable prick.

Sakura nodded eagerly as Fai quickly sanitized the needle before handing it over. Sakura's hands were shaking as she pricked her own finger—and the mage helped to steady them as she held it over the remaining mixture.

As soon as blood hit the mixture it did just as he knew it would—fizzling it change to a hot red color and Sakura's face changed from nervous excitement to pure joy. He hadn't expected her to start bawling at the news, but Fai could tell that she was overwhelmingly happy as she all but tackled him.

He was so happy for them—but he would be better able to focus on that happiness once he had set a fool proof defense to keep them, as well as the new baby, safe and sound while he was away…

Sakura settled down soon enough and they made breakfast together while they waited for the boys to drag there butts out of bed. The smell of food usually did the trick and Sakura wanted them all together when she shared the good news.

Not surprisingly—Kurogane was the next one to wake up. Years as a ninja had his body conditioned to be up with the rising sun and he hadn't outgrown that habit when he had retired to become the lord of Suwa. What was surprising is that the ninja walked into the room—eyes sleepy and expression relaxed as was usual first thing—and carrying a very grumpy Yuui.

Yuui hadn't wanted to go to bed last night since Fai had been too restless to sleep. He had stayed up as long as his young body would allow, and the last time he had seen him it had been when Kurogane had carried him to bed on his own way to lay down for the night as well.

The child was still wearing his sleep cloths and his hair was sticking up at odd angles as he rested his cheek on Kurogane's shoulder. The ninja had gotten dressed and though not quite 100% awake, he looked ready to start the day rather then set to hibernate for a few more hours.

His tiny twin was usually very clingy first thing in the morning—but he was usually attached to Fai like that.

It wasn't like he minded. He thought that Kurogane looked really good cuddling the exhausted child—and it warmed his heart that Yuui was being snuggle bug. Kurogane didn't get enough snuggles. This was good for them both.

Sakura seemed to find it equally adorable and gave the appropriate awe when both Yuui and Kurogane yawned in unison as they settled down at the table.

Yuui fell right back to sleep and Kurogane ignored him as he drank his tea and watched his companions cook and chatter quietly. It wasn't until the meal was prepared that they finally heard the door to the kid's bedroom open, followed by lazy shuffles of Syaoran coming to join them.

Fai gave Sakura's shoulder a reassuring squeez as soon as the unknowing father to be entered the room and went to sit across from Kurogane. The ninja shot him a skeptical look and Fai just offered an innocent smile.

He was only a little smug that he got to know before anyone else, and that their adoptive daughter had come to him for comfort.

Not that it was a contest or anything.

Syaoran seemed totally oblivious to the sudden tension in the room and walked around the table to give the princess a good morning hug before fixing himself some coffee—as was there routine.

"Um—I have something to tell you Syaoran…" the tone of her voice didn't seem to bother him—Kurogane was now glaring at Fai.

Oh, this was going to be so much fun.

"Yeah sure. What's up?" The brunette turned away from the kettle to flash a curious look.

Did he really have no idea? Sakura might claim that they had talked about 'not being upset if something happened' but Fai was confident that was her polite way of saying they were actively trying.

One would think that he would be looking out for the results of all there 'hard work.'

This was almost painful to watch as the silence dragged on—the kids looking at each other for an impossibly long time before the princess worked up the nerve to continue.

"I—uh… well you see We're um—that is…" Sakura shot Fai a desperate look and he chuckled.

How was she this embarrassed? Those two had always been like that around each other sure—but how the heck had they managed to conceive if they were this ridiculously shy around each other even after so much time.

"Kuro-daddy and I can give you some privacy if you would like." Maybe it was the fact that they had an audience? Easy in theory but harder in practice?

"Oh god please no. I don't want to do this more then once." Sakura took in a few deep breaths and both Syaoran and Kurogane looked as though she was about to tell them she was dying of some incurable ailment or that she lost all of her memories again.

"Should I wake Yuui up then? I know he will be so excited to hear the good news." Fai offered with a smile—the doggie duo visually relaxed.

"No… That's ok…" Sakura sucked in a few deep breaths before turning back to her husband. "It's just that—well I'm having a baby…"

Fai watched all of the color drain out of Syaoran's face. He blinked once, twice, and hit the floor like a sack of flour before anyone could react.

Fai was torn between bursting out laughing at that reaction, and worrying for the brunettes poor head that had hit the very hard floor with a loud crack. It took less then a second for both he and Kurogane to snap into action though.

Fai got there first considering he didn't have a child sleeping in his lap—but the ninja wasn't far behind after Yuui was handed off to Sakura. The older blond checked Syaoran over for any obvious injuries may have caused—and was happy to see no blood—just a nasty goose egg.

A light slap to the cheek was all it took to rouse the boy—and those big brown eyes looked impossibly wide as he came to. Not missing a beat, Syaoran shot upright and looked at the princess in disbelief.

"I am sooo sorry!" He probably would have scrambled to his feet if Kurogane didn't hold him down with two hands on his shoulders.

"Why are you sorry?" Sakura looked about two seconds away from crying and Yuui who had been woken suddenly was trying to wiggle out of her arms.

"Y—you just told me—oh my god and I just fainted—and—and are you really?" Syaoran babbled as he looked franticly around the room and Fai almost expected him to faint again.

He didn't thankfully—he instead swallowed a few times.

"Are you what?" Yuui finally managed to wiggle free. Obviously grumpy from being woken all of a sudden, he looked at the adults in the room as though they had just dishonored his ancestors. "Why are you on the floor?"

Fai looked back from the tiny cranky blond just in time to lock eyes with Kurogane and they both stated to crack up. It wasn't easy to make them both laugh so hard they were practically gasping for air—but as Yuui continued to glare at them, Syaoran continued to apologize, and Sakura to stunned to speak they couldn't help themselves.

Eventually Yuui's crankiness turned into concern as his twin and the ninja leaned against each other for support as they both cackled. Syaoran managed to scoot away from them and stood next to Sakura, both of there adult adopted children mirroring Yuui's concern.

It only made the whole situation funnier.

Kurogane especially was typically more reserved then this—and the fact that he found this as funny as Fai only made the mage laugh harder. By the time the last pearls of laughter worked there way out of their systems, he was pretty sure he had never laughed that hard in his life.

"Are you guys done now?" Yuui was not impressed and Fai bit his lip as Kurogane helped him to his feet.

"Yes. Apologies." Fai leaned down and gave his tiny twin a too tight hug that the child didn't bother struggling against. "Syaoran are you ok? Dizzy?"

"Uh no. I'm good—just surprised…" the brunette looked at Sakura and pulled her into his arms. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything… It was like all of sudden I felt too many feelings and then the next thing I knew I was on the ground."

"I didn't mean to make you faint… I would have had you sit down if I thought—"

"No no! You didn't do anything wrong. I just got too happy. You're perfect—you told me in the perfect way I couldn't be happier." Sakura started tearing up again and Fai was pretty sure the usually stoic archeologist was getting close to water works as well.

Fai was distracted form the touching scene by a tug on his cloths and looked down to see Yuui frowning at him. "You can faint from getting too happy?"

"Guess so." Leaning down, the older blonde picked his twin up and kissed his forehead.

"I missed something while I was sleeping, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…"

"Sakura will tell you all about it once they calm down. Do you want to help me finish getting the food ready while the love birds talk?"

Yuui agreed that that was for the best and he helped Fai while the kids whispered quietly and hugged it out. Kurogane went back to drinking his tea and soon enough they were all sitting down to a nice meal.

Fai watched his tiny twin watch Syaoran and Sakura until eventually they noticed him patiently waiting to be filled in.

"Oh! Right!" Sakura flashed him a soft smile and Syaoran gripped her hand as he also settled his attention on the curious boy. "We got some very good news this morning."

Yuui blinked them expectantly and Sakura wrinkled her nose in amusement at that cute expression. "Syaoran and I are going to be having a baby. Isn't that exciting?"

"Oh."

Fai frowned. He wished he could take a peek into his twin's brain and see what was running though his mind at the moment. Normally he could read the child like an open book, but his magic wasn't fluctuating with any emotions at all.

Ether Fai was losing his touch or Yuui was finally starting to catch on to his latest lessons on control…

"When will it get here?" the first drops of anxiety started to stain the boys magic.

Why did that have to be his first thought? Couldn't his first thought have been about how exciting it was? How this might mean the children will stay? Any of the positive aspects at all? He was to young to worry so much…

"Some time in July or August probably." It clicked with her suddenly as to what had the child in knots, and her head whipped towards the taller blonde. "You guys are leaving in June though aren't you!"

She just now remembered it seemed. Her pointing it out seemed to trigger both Syaoran and Kurogane to realize just what that most likely meant, and they too looked at Fai with startled, worried expressions.

Why were they all looking at him?

He didn't get Sakura pregnant—and he most certainly couldn't control when the baby was born.

That aside this was nothing to panic over… He could excuse the kids giving him that look. They were adults but this was new and scary, and they had always had the ninja and the mage to guide them through most challenges in life…

But Kurogane should know better—Yuui was watching their reaction carefully and his increased anxiety was bleeding into his magic causing it to hum.

If the ninja had managed to approach this like Fai currently was—with confidence that everything was going to be fine—Fai might be able to settle the child's fears before he started to run with them.

"Seeing as we can't change the date of our departure or the due date of the baby—There is absolutely no reason to start worrying about if we will or not be back in time." Fai sighed—he wanted to be here to support Sakura as much as Kurogane and Yuui—and he would hate missing it as much as Syaoran would hate him not being there.

It sucked.

Not because the kids wouldn't be ok without them there though—he needed to stress that.

"But Fai—"

"Sorry Yuui… there is absolutely nothing we can do. We have no choice but to uphold our half of the deal with Yuuko and babies come when they come." He watched Yuui squirm in his spot, tears collecting in the corner of his eyes.

He did not like that answer… It was ok though.

Fai had to let him know it was ok or he was going to make himself sick worrying and Sakura would feel so terribly about adding stress.

He couldn't let Yuui get worked up over what was a happy thing.

"But you love Sakura… She needs us—"

And didn't that just rip his heart into shreds…

Oh Yuui…

"We all love Sakura very very much Yuui. I can't do anything to change things. I can only hope that we're back in time and make sure that if were not that there is someone here to help her—"

"But Fai!" the child's voice cracked. He really had become attached to her… "She needs us!"

Fai wasn't sure he had every loved his twin as much as he did at the moment. His fears were misguided but he was so impossibly sweet.

"Yuui. Hush now and listen to me." A few tears slipped down his cheeks as he nodded his head, and Fai reached out to wipe them away. He didn't have to be stern with him often—but he was going to have to accept that there were things even grownups couldn't change.

It was no ones fault. Sakura would be ok. There was no reason to get so upset…

Not an easy lesson for a child unfortunately.

"There is no reason to get so upset—" Yuui opened his mouth to protest and Fai tapped his index finger against the boy's lips to shush him. "—For all we know were only going to be gone for a few weeks. Until we know for sure that were going to be away its silly to be upset."

"—now—" Fai continued as he wiped the new tears that slipped free as the child sniffled loudly. "—even if we're not back—and Kuro-chan and I are going to try our absolute best to make sure we are only gone a little while—We will make sure that we find someone to stay with Sakura and Syaoran and help them until we are back."

Yuui's lips quivered and he shook his head almost violently back and forth. His magic flared and Fai wished he could just take the boys worries away.

This was something to be happy about—it was such a shame that the happiness was being shoved away by dark anxieties and fears no little boy should have.

"It's not the same… They won't love her like us… she needs us." Yuui pleaded and looked back and forth between Kurogane and Fai.

The mage was hearing his twin's words, he was sensing his emotions as they leaked out into his magic, but he could stop it. He truly wished he could. He wasn't sure why Yuui was so terrified at the thought of possibly being away when the baby was born—he didn't know where these feelings were coming from to even get a clue as to how to shut them down. Turn them away and focus on how much fun the new baby would be once they returned.

Maybe it was because he had seen enough babies born that he knew unless there were complications, she would be fine. Thousands of women gave birth every day and they had since the beginning of time—the only reason it was important to be there was because it was Sakura and Syaoran's child.

They wanted to share in their happiness—who actually delivered the baby didn't make it any less special.

"It might not be the same—but it's the best we can do. A midwife or doctor doesn't need to love every patient to make sure they are healthy and well cared for. That's their job." He and Kurogane would make sure she had the best—probably hire someone with more experience than Fai.

He had helped deliver a few babies sure, but his primary occupation had been as a war mage.

Yuui didn't seem to think his twin was taking the issue seriously and looked like was a few steps away from a full on melt down… he didn't know what to do to stop it ether…

Fai cupped the boys tear stained cheeks and gave a frustrated huff. "What will make you feel better?"

"Telling Yuuko to wait till after the new baby to make us leave so Sakura isn't alone."

Well that wasn't going to work. You didn't back out of a deal with the Dimensional Witch.

"She still has Syaoran you know, and I've already told you that we can't do that Yuui. What else?"

"Nothing… I don't wanna leave S-Sakura." With the last word he let out a heart strangling, soul crushing cry, and he batted Fai's hands away before curling his knees to his chest.

At this rate Fai was going to start crying too—he couldn't stand seeing his brother this upset. It was almost physically painful to see him like this and if he kept crying like that the older twin was sure he would have his own brake down.

He knew he had to snap him out of it—Fai was the only one who could calm him down when he got like this. If wasn't easy for the mage to do when he couldn't fix anything—there was nothing he could change or do other than reiterate that everything was ok.

It didn't help that Yuui seemed to think he had any sort of control in the situation. His hands were tied… Fai and Kurogane were on the boy's side in regard to wanting to be there for Sakura.

Fai pulled Yuui into his arms even though he tried to wiggle away. He didn't want to be the bad guy—this wasn't his choice ether and he didn't know how to convey that in a way Yuui would understand…

He could give him the options and let him choose sure—but who knew if that would work? He could stay in Suwa and wait for Fai and Kurogane—or he could come and possible miss the baby.

Perhaps if he chose, he would feel better?

"Maybe we can compromise?"

"I wanna stay with Sakura!" Yuui almost screeched as he tried to push against Fai's chest to get away.

"Ok." Fai felt the thrashing stop almost immediately and Yuui looked at him with red rimmed eyes. If that's what he wanted Fai would indulge him… even if the boy staying would cause him endless worry.

If that made him feel better that's what they would do.

He couldn't help his sad sigh and flashed his tiny twin a worried look.

"We can stay?" the hope in his voice was sharper then any knife as the older blond watched his whole body sag in exhausted relief.

Fai felt like a piece of shit as he shook his head to clarify and Yuui looked utterly betrayed.

" _We_ can't stay. Kurogane and I have to go—there is no way around that. You however—you can stay if you would rather be with Sakura and Syaoran. They will take very good care of you while were gone I am su—"

"NOOO!" the child shrieked loud enough to cause even Kurogane to jump.

Yuui didn't want to be away from him. His twin had cried every time Fai had been forced to leave him alone for a few hours to run an errand or meet with a diplomat—the thought of the two of them being separated for an unknown amount of time in totally different dimensions was enough to make the boy forget all his earlier worries.

That had not been the plan. Fai had only meant to give him a choice. Not make him even more upset…

Shit.

Fai felt Yuui's magic go absolutely crazy as he thought about being separated from his twin and instead of struggling to get away, Yuui curled as close as he possible could, fisting his tiny hands in the older blonde's cloths desperately.

"Don't leave me! You swore! You said you were never going to leave me Fai!" In response the mage tangled a hand in his short hair and tucked the other around his waist to cradle him comfortingly against his chest.

"Yuui—I didn't say I would leave you. I said _you_ could choose to stay here or come with me. Calm down. It would very be hard for me to let you stay home… but if you would feel better at home, I would let you."

"No no no no no—" the child was panicking, and it was his fault… He had to fix this… He should never be afraid that he would be abandoned.

"That's ok Yuui please calm down. Let me explain."

"No! I hate this… I don't want to leave! I want to stay home with you and Sakura! Why are you making us go? She needs us Fai! It's not fair! Ihateit Ihateit I HATE it." Yuui's fingers managed to curl tighter and he sobbed violently as the words left his mouth.

Fai had to fix this, but he couldn't give the child both things.

"What we hate or don't hate doesn't change the situation little one. I don't want to go ether, but we don't have a choice." Fai spoke quietly to the child, rocking him slightly in an attempt to sooth him.

"It's not FAIR. Please Fai!" Yuui twisted his neck up to look at his brother in total desperation.

Fai didn't know what to do… How could he fix this?

"Yuui I need you to calm down and I will try and explain it a different wa—"

"NO! Why are you letting Ms. Yuuko send us away? You said they're our family and you're just letting her take them away!"

Oh Yuui—they were going to be safe and sound here in Suwa. Fai was making sure nothing would be able to hurt them—everything was ok.

"They are going to be here when we get—"

"What if there not? What if the dragon comes back and eats everyone and we're too far away to help? There gonna die Fai… why are you going to let them die?" Yuui wasn't screaming anymore.

He whispered those words as he buried his face in the crook of his brother's neck. He sounded so utterly broken and fearful—as if he was already experiencing the pain of returning to see them maimed and lifeless.

The fact that he thought Fai would EVER let that happen? That hurt a special way…

The mage didn't know what to do. How was he going to fix this?

"Oh Yuui… That's not going to happen. You know Kurogane and I are making sure none of that happens before we go… No one is dying."

"NO! You're a liar! You can't know that! Why don't you care? _My_ Fai would care!" Yuui no longer wanted to be held and pushed against Fai roughly.

The mage let him go. He wiggled back away from his twin and wrapped his arms around his shaking frame protectively—doubling over as though he was in terrible pain while he sobbed.

What was he supposed to do? How did he comfort him? He could hardly think after that accusation…

Fai cared.

He had spent weeks worrying about their safety and was planning on going to the extreme to ensure it. On braking several magical laws to ensure it—he was trying his best.

Why couldn't he help Yuui see? Everything was going to be ok—Fai wouldn't let anything happen.

"I am sorry you feel that way but—"

"No no no! You don't care! You don't care that Ms. Yuuko is separating everyone and you don't care that Sakura needs us. You're a big fat liar! You're not my Fai! My Fai wouldn't leave everyone to die! He always tired to protect everyone and you're just—you're just—"

Something if Fai snapped.

He was always sure to choose his words carefully—that was something that had been drilled into him by Ashura-ou from only hours after his arrival in Celese—never to act on emotion. He was a class A war mage who had faced entire armies in battles with only a few good men at his back—he had argued with the most cunning minds and hadn't been so much as ruffled.

He had been demeaned, insulted, called demon, a curse to his countrymen, a killer, a coward, a foreign monster, Suwa's Yosei whore, too many insults to even recall.

None of that had caused him to snap. Fai was always had enough control over his emotions to choose his words…

What Yuui had just accused him of? Fai lost it as his heart broke.

"You are just a little boy and you don't understand what you are talking about. You are being hurtful and upsetting everyone and if you don't calm down and show that you know how to behave you will be staying home—"

He didn't get to finish the rest of his threat because Yuui cut Fai off with an ear-splitting, desperate sob as he crumpled into a little ball of the floor. The older twin quickly wiped the single tear that had fallen away and pulled the child into his arms again.

The guilt he felt was overwhelming and it took all of his strength to do that much.

Fai hadn't meant to threaten him with his worst fear, and he had just done it twice in under twenty minutes. The child was now crying so hard he sounded like he was choking, unable to pull a full breath into his lungs before another body quaking sob ripped free from his tiny frame. Yuui was so distraught that he was losing control of his magic and it was radiating off of him in pain-soaked waves making it feel like a polar breeze had ripped through the dining room.

God what had he done? He was an adult—why was he threatening a little boy? What the heck had he done to his sweet Yuui?

Fai managed to take a deep breath and collect himself enough to try and apologize.

He didn't deserve Yuui's forgiveness… He didn't deserve Yuui.

"Yuui I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I would never ever leave you. Please just breath."

The child didn't answer—Fai wasn't even sure if he had heard him over the sound of his crying.

Dear god what had he done to his poor sweet Yuui? He was just a child—the morning had been eventful, and he just didn't understand. Fai was an adult with literal centuries on the boy—he should have never said that out of anger.

Not that—never that.

"Please Yuui I need you to calm down." Fai heard his own voice quiver and he wished he could slap himself. He needed to keep it together or his little twin's anguish would only be fueled by his own emotions.

This had to be a panic attack—why else could keep Yuui form breathing?

Fai had had panic attacks before—but he didn't think they had ever been this bad. He had grown out of them as he had learned methods to handle his stresses and fears. It had been too many years to count since the last time he had suffered from them.

How the hell had Ashura-ou calmed him down? What would he do?

Fai can hardly remember the few times he had lost total control of himself—he was pretty sure that the last time it had happened the king had shocked it out of it… right? Or had he let him cry it out?

This was not the time for his memories to flee him…

Fuck.

"Yuui. Can you hear me?" Fai tried to lean back slightly in an attempt to get enough distance between them so he could look at the child's face—It only caused Yuui to claw at him painfully in an attempt to keep him in place.

"Yuui I need you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?"

His twin didn't even acknowledge him. The room was so cold now that he could see his breath, and Fai knew if he didn't stop this soon the uncontrolled magic was going to start lashing out physically.

He had to snap him out of this. They were running out of time and Yuui would never forgive himself if he accidentally hurt someone…

Fai was running out of options here… his mind was racing and he worried Yuui wasn't getting enough air. He needed to breath. Fai didn't know what he would do if the boy stopped breathing.

Between thousands of hours spent practicing control over his mind, body, and magic, as well as all the years he had lived on the battle field, how was it now that his twin needed him most, he couldn't think of something to brake him out of this trance? `

Something that he would have no choice but to respond to…

He was the worst kind of monster… he didn't deserve this child.

"If you don't answer me, I am going to send you back to Yuuko for being so bad." He winced at his own words as the lie left his tongue. The boy's response was sudden and alarming, all at once felt the shaking stop and the gasping, screeching cries gave way to cold silence.

"I—I don't—Please don't—send me away… Please…" Yuui's voice was horse from the screaming and sounded so completely distraught and broken as he tried to speak between desperate attempts to suck air into his lungs.

Fai had done this. He had caused his brother to get this upset. This was his fault.

"You can here me now?" Fai kissed the boys head and Yuui nodded slowly.

"I had to snap you out of it Yuui. Please listen to me… I'm not going to send you away. Not ever. You belong with me no matter what ok?" Fai offered a small smile to the child.

Fai didn't deserve to have Yuui here now.

Yuui deserved someone who wouldn't cause him so much heartbreak.

What had he done?

"But—but you just said…"

"I know. I needed to say something to snap your mind out of that place. It was only to get you to listen. Please understand." What had he done? Fai felt his own body shaking from tension and worry and he just really needed to fix this.

Could he fix this?

"I—I would—I would—die…. if you—if you left. I would die… Please Fai." Yuui snuffed his nose as his desperate, bruising grip tightened further.

Fai could not believe what he had done… How could he cause Yuui to feel this bad? What kind of evil brother was he?

"I am not leaving. I spoke out of anger and I can't apologize enough. I am yours as long as you will have me. I'm never ever leaving you ok?" Fai hugged the boy a little to tight.

What had he done? God what had he done?

"It's—It's ok… I was—I was mean to. I said mean things too…" the child was breathing a little easier and his magic started to settle slightly.

"You're a kid—grownups aren't supposed to speak in anger like that. I am so sorry Yuui."

"Fai?"

"Hm?"

"Can we go back to bed? I have a headache and my chest hurts… I just want to go to sleep."

"Yeah."

Fai chanced his first look up at their traveling companions as he stood, and it stung. Syaoran, Sakura, and Kurogane had all seen him at his worse—but he was pretty sure this was a new low.

He was such a piece of shit…

Sakura and Syaoran both looked as though they thought the child's distress was their own fault—and Kurogane was obviously livid about his handling of the situation.

Not only was his twin and the kids upset—but his lover was mad at him too… Perfect.

He cast his gaze down and made his way out of the room without addressing them.

Yuui had his own room now, but he never slept in there. It was simply a place for him to study and store his belongings—he always slept with Fai and Kurogane. Nether he or the ninja minded the intrusion and often times the tiny blond fell sleep right between them in bed.

It was just as comforting to Fai to have Yuui there as it was for the child to sleep with the adults.

He plopped gracelessly down on the futon and slowly pried Yuui off of him so they could lay down. The boy had obviously still been tired before the morning's excitement—and all that crying no doubt left him exhausted.

As soon as he had settled into a comfortable position—Yuui clung back onto him as if someone was going to steal him away…

Fai was doing a shitty job with Yuui… He should be better at this. He needed to be better at this…

0o0o0

Kurogane had no idea why today had to be so fucking eventful before they had even finished their fucking breakfast.

Sakura had shocked the hell outta him before he had even had any caffeine with the pregnancy shit—which shouldn't have been all that shocking considering that she was married and slept in the same room as her fucking husband.

The way she got all googly eyed around that stupid baby was another giant freaking clue—especially when the walls were really god damn thin in this house and he had heard her gush to the kid about how cute that baby was and how she thought helping Fai deliver it would make it scary but somehow found the entire thing beautiful in the way a young woman would.

It was obviously gonna happen sooner or later.

Apparently, he wasn't the biggest idiot in the house—or he had failed the kid as a father figure by not explaining that Syaoran could knock the princess up—because Syaoran had scared the shit outta him by fucking fainting out of nowhere at the news.

Really? He had no idea? No idea at all that she might get pregnant?

He didn't fucking buy that—so he hadn't assumed the little fucker had just gotten over whelmed when he hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. Not after the crazy overwhelming shit they had all been though hadn't made him pass out—but somehow finding out that Sakura was going to have a baby is what caused him to faint?

Really?

Of course, he was happy for them. His heart had been overflowing with joy as he and Fai had laughed and watched those kids be there awkward overly apologetic selves while the whole situation had gone over Yuui's head.

He had his family all together and they were sharing a wonderfully happy moment before they all got reminded that for some reason, the universe like to fuck with them when ever they started to get comfortable.

As if all the excitement of the baby shit wasn't enough, his blond morons had managed to put on the most hear braking display he had ever seen, and he wasn't so sure that their family was ever going to be the same.

That had been seriously fucked up. He had literally seen each of the twins brake the others heart and he was afraid that they had taken about a hundred steps in the wrong direction.

Probably the shittiest part was the fact that he hadn't known what to do—what to say—and he had just watched Fai try and fix an unfixable problem until it escalated way past a healthy level.

Now they were hiding in bed isolating themselves and he was just doing the dishes, so he didn't have to sit at the table staring at Syaoran and Sakura who felt bad for causing Yuui to get so worked up.

They had been here for a while now and during all of that time they hadn't seen him have a real meltdown like that. Other than the water works that came any time Fai had to leave him home for a few hours—Yuui had seemed to be a happy, healthy, mentally stable kid.

He was about as far from that as it got—but he seemed like it sometimes. It was easy to forget just how tied up the twerp got himself when things changed.

Yuui had had a lot of fits his first few weeks in Suwa—this one took the cake by miles sure—but they had been getting better until now, and they had thankfully been few and far between recently. As he had settled—Fai had settled too and Kurogane had actually let himself hope that those twins would manage to help each other heal.

Obviously, they were not there yet. If today was any clue, they were both too stuck in their own trauma to constructively help the other out of a wet paper bag.

It was not the kids's fault—they didn't cause the insecurities or irrational fears that had twisted and controlled Fai and Yuui during that spat. He didn't know how to explain that to them in a way they would understand though so here he was—avoiding it.

He wasn't sure he understood it himself…

Kurogane had been pretty confident in his ability to read the twins up until now. He had not seen that coming though—he never would have guessed that they could rip each other apart like that.

He talked to Fai a fuck ton about Yuui's mental state—just like he talked to Fai a lot about his own mental state. He had seen the way the tiny twin had watched the way the older doted on the princess—he had watched Yuui get attached to her to the point that he gave her almost as many hugs and kisses as his brother.

He hadn't known why at first, he had assumed it had something to do with the way Sakura effected most people. He had been corrected by his mage a few weeks back after his lover had had a few too many drinks.

The whole reason the idiot even decided to drink at all that night was because Yuui had already fallen asleep in the princess's room, again, and they usually let him sleep there.

When Fai was shitfaced it was the only time you didn't have to read between the lines to get an answer from him. He wasn't sure how they got on the topic of how close Sakura and Yuui had become but Fai had gotten very quiet after it was mentioned.

Eventually Fai had asked him if Yuui had ever brought up his mom to the ninja before—he hadn't. He wasn't as open with Kurogane as he was with his twin, and usually when they talked it wasn't about feelings.

That was Fai's department—they bonded in their own way.

His mage had not had a healthy relationship with his own mother, and they had talked in the past about how that effected his willingness to let woman close to him. (Chii being the only exception to that rule—and later the princess whose feather had been used to create Chii) They had talked about it at length when they had lived in the capital since Tomoyo noticed that the blonde kept her shut out. She had approached the Kurogane when Fai refused to let her be anything more than a polite acquaintance even though Kurogane looked at the princess like a sister.

When he had asked his mage back then it had had been a pretty disturbing, depressing realization that Fai had such a deep-rooted distrust for the opposite gender that he couldn't even have female friends. Kurogane couldn't relate—he had had strong female figures in his life, right along side the male ones, and he had never had a reason to mistrust someone based on something like there gender.

If his mom had called him a curse and committed suicide in front of him? Blaming him for it?

Shit—you couldn't even question why he might feel the way he did. That was FUCKED up.

Yuui's relationship with his worlds version of there mom had been different. Not healthy by any means given what few details he knew about what life was like before he had been shipped away—but she had gone to the witch for help and that was the only reason they had the child to cherish now.

The HUGE difference was that Yuui loved his mother like all little boys should. His mother might have let him suffer by his father's hand—but she had loved him to. She had given him up to the witch even though she had loved him... Your mom played such an important part in your life and Yuui knew that her sending him away was a sign of her love for him.

So, the kid missed her. Missed her a whole fucking lot.

Fai had told him that Yuui would often cry over her—telling him just how much he missed her—how worried he was that his father was going to do to her what she had done to his worlds twin.

Kurogane related to Yuui on a deep level when it came to missing his mom. He knew that the wounds of loosing her, even if she was still alive, were going to be raw for years to come.

The thing was—Yuui didn't process things like a normal little boy. He fed off of the emotions off the people around him.

Aka—Fai.

If Fai didn't like something, Yuui didn't ether. Even if it was something he craved—like maternal affection from the females in his life. It wasn't like they were lacking woman that wanted to shower Yuui in hugs and treats ether.

He had heard from most of his men that their wives, sisters, and older daughters all worried about how Yuui was doing without anyone to mother him. A boy needs a mother after all—that was a belief in Nihon at least.

Yuui avoided them and stuck close to Fai even though the village woman tried. Fai couldn't change the fact that he wasn't fond of them. His mage didn't hate them, didn't think they were bad people or anything. He just treated them like he did all woman—with polite disinterest.

Most people didn't even notice that Fai treated woman different because of his stupid fake smiles. Yuui could tell though because—well Kurogane wasn't sure but the twerp knew. He pushed them away just like Fai did.

Sakura was different though.

Fai very obviously loved her deeply so Yuui had fallen hard and fast in his own affection for Sakura. What the fuck had they expected when she fed him, helped him dress, read him stories, snuggled him when Fai was away and he was sad? She had pretty much adopted him.

Fai encouraged it too. He trusted Sakura with his brother and encouraged them to be close. He didn't want Yuui to end up like him—he wanted him to be able to trust woman and lead a normal life.

Any of them could have probably guessed that the squirt would get upset knowing that the princess was going to be in a vulnerable state while they were away—especially knowing they were almost certainly going to be in another dimension running the dimensional bitch's stupid errand when she had the baby.

The munchkin probably didn't understand all of his own feelings on why that was so upsetting. He soaked up emotions like a sponge though, and that momentarily panicked look from the princess was all it had taken to plant the idea in his head that something bad was going to happen.

Once the idea was in his head there was no getting it back…

But holy fuck had is escalated quickly—transforming into something that was totally irrational.

It's not like Kurogane liked this shit ether—not that he could do anything to help her other than offer moral support. Fai hated it to he knew—he didn't want to miss it.

He and Fai had spent who knows how many years worrying about Syaoran and Sakura. They had become family and bonded on a level that tied them together closer than most blood relations, so they understood Yuui's worry to that extent.

The kids wanted them there too, but there was no use getting upset over it… As adults they understood this.

Yuui didn't.

Yuui had twisted all of his feelings up with every insecurity and irrational fear he had until it had become a crushing weight that had completely overwhelmed him. His anxiety was no fucking joke.

He didn't know if it was a learned behavior from living with an abusive father—or if it was just something he had always been prone to. Fai also tended to get anxious—but not like that.

He had never seen Fai like that—and thank fucking god for that huge blessing.

That poor kid had looked like he was dying.

Like his worries and fears were choking the life out of him and they could only stand by and watch him struggle. Kurogane didn't know how worrying about the princess having the baby while they were away had progressed into everyone dying the second they left Suwa, Fai not giving a fuck about any of it, or any of the other shit.

His brain just didn't fucking follow.

Fai had held it together pretty well until Yuui had shut down. Better then one would expect given that the last time Yuui had yelled at him like that a simple 'I hate you' had caused the older twin to need to step away and calm down.

His mage had no way of knowing that telling the kid to behave or he wouldn't be allowed to come with them on there trip would scare Yuui like that. That was a normal punishment for children who threw fits—they lost privileges—and traveling was a privilege.

He didn't know how to explain to the kids that Yuui was just a fucked up little kid and they shouldn't blame themselves. They should blame his shitty parents and not worry too much about it—Fai and Kurogane had that part covered.

Shit…

Today had somehow managed to be one of his happiest since returning to Suwa, as well as one of his saddest.

The last of the dishes were taken care of and the ninja swore under his breath before heading back out to where the kids were still quietly sitting. They looked totally freaked out when they locked eyes with him, and he couldn't help but swear again.

"It's not your fault so quit looking at me like you kicked the twerp."

"I didn't know that the news would make him so upset." Sakura frowned as she spoke and Syaoran wrapped a comforting arm around her.

"That's not what caused that. I know we told you that Yuui was in rough shape when he got here—I know you both have seen how insecure he is. As much as we all care for him, he isn't a normal kid. It's complicated and hard to explain and I don't even think Fai or I really know what causes him to get so worked up over small shit—"

Kurogane paused and to collect his thoughts and cursed a few more times.

This sucked.

"Don't take it personally ok?"

The kids both nodded at him, and he really hoped they took his advice…

Kurogane wanted to give the twins time to just let the air settle so he had the kids head with him into town to drop off all the extra sweets Fai had made to allow them space. They didn't hear a peep from ether of them the rest of the day—they didn't come out for lunch or dinner and now that it was late into the night it was time to brake up the doom and gloom and call it a day.

He opened the door to their room and frowned at the lumps that were curled together on the larger of the two futons. Ether they were sleeping or sitting in a pitch black room…

He got dressed for bed quietly, so he didn't wake them and went to settle in his usual spot. Fai and Yuui were taking up way less room then they usually did due to the fact that the younger twin was clinging to the older like an octopus.

The retired ninja laid down so he could face his sad idiots—and scowled when Fai's red rimed eyes practically glowed in the little bit of moonlight that had snuck in, as he looked at him.

"Did you spend the entire day in here crying by yourself?" his whisper growl didn't have any bite behind it—but Kurogane was seriously wondering what the fuck he was gonna do with these two.

"Yuui is right here Kuro. You might need glasses." At least the moron was joking…

Even if he was only joking to distract his lover.

"Has he been asleep the entire day?" Kurogane was regretting his decision to leave them be… They could not take care of themselves apparently.

"He's totally emotionally exhausted…" Fai's voice cracked as he spoke and Kurogane saw him hug the little boy a bit tighter. "I fucked up Kuro-chan."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." The ninja reached out his good hand and cupped his lover's cheek—he sure as fuck had been crying.

"I don't—I don't deserve him. He's to good for me… I'm only going to hurt him." the older twin drew in a shaky breath and leaned into his hand.

Yup—this was probably the saddest he had ever seen them, and he didn't know how to snap them out of this funk.

Fuuuck.

"Don't start with that mage. Its not about what anyone does or doesn't deserve. You didn't do anything wrong—he's gonna freak out sometimes no matter what you do." Fai was still crying, and he quietly snuffed his nose and shook his head.

Why couldn't Fai just believe him? Yuui was really fucking lucky to have Fai—just like the idiot was lucky to have the pipsqueak.

"I made it worse… I said the wrong thing and scared him so bad he couldn't breath Kurogane. I shouldn't be allowed to have him."

"Fai. You're an idiot. That kid's dad beat him—his mom neglected his physical and emotional needs so bad that he's so emotionally behind the other kids his age he can't relate to them—and you think that caused any more damage?"

"Maybe I'm not as bad—but I should be better… I should know what to do. I should have been able to keep it from escalating that far." Fai sucked in another shaky breath and Kurogane watched him cradle Yuui protectively.

Obviously today had scared the shit outta Fai more than it had scared the shit outta himself.

"You need to stop being so hard on yourself. I don't know why you think you need to be perfect when it comes to him when you're only human—but you need to stop. Parents aren't perfect—we weren't perfect with Syaoran or Sakura—and were not gonna always get it right with Yuui."

Fai was probably the only person in the universe that had a chance with getting it mostly right with Yuui. It was because of his mage that the child was smiling, learning, playing, and growing. Fai had helped him to do that.

"It's just—" Fai ran a shaking hand though the child's hair and the twerp didn't so much as stir, obviously deeply asleep. "—sometimes I forget what it was like to be so afraid all of the time. I should have been more patient with him…"

"The fact that you get how he feels at all puts you miles ahead of me. I don't know where he got those crazy ideas from." It was fucking bazar that he had gotten so freaked out over something so stupidly simply—as if he was repeating conspiracy theories…

It wasn't normal.

"He'll learn to shut that part of his brain off as he grows… I felt the same way about Ashura-ou after he rescued me. I was terrified he was going to change his mind and send me back to—Valarie—" Fai hardly managed to squeak out the last word.

His mage had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself and Kurogane waited patiently—shifting to be closer to him. With Yuui between then he couldn't hold his lover—but he wanted to do something.

"That was the most awful feeling in the world… that nagging fear was the most painful thing I have ever felt Kuro-chan—"

Yeah there was way fucking more shit going on then he thought.

He had expected for Yuui to be like this—not Fai. He knew his mage had lost his temper a bit, and he expected him to feel bad over it—not this though.

Obviously those two had ripped into some baggage he hadn't realized.

"It hurt when I saw my mother die—it hurt every day I was locked away from my Yuui by my countrymen… starving and knowing that even death couldn't bring me relief _hurt._ Frost bite _hurt_. Hearing my twin suffer without being able to reach him really fucking _hurt_ …" Fai had to pause for a few more deep breaths and Kurogane did his best to brush away his tears.

Where the fuck was this going? Because Fai never—ever—not in their entire relationship—brought up the hell hole he had been locked in. They had talked about before, and they had talked about after, never during.

"None of that compares to the pain that that one thought caused me… you have no idea how bad it hurts to have your own mind convince you that the one person to ever love you, the person who had pulled you from a living hell and gave you a reason to live, the only person to ever care if you were warm enough—or had enough food… the only person to educate you, to teach you the skills you needed to stand on your own—would discard you. send you away…."

Fuck.

He shouldn't have left them alone. Was Fai thinking about this all day?

Kurogane didn't know—his parents had always made him feel loved and cherished. He's never been starved or neglected, even after Suwa had fallen he hadn't had to face such things…

"I know how he feels—" Fai looked down at Yuui as though the child might disappear from his arms. "—It's like a terrible stabbing in your chest… it ties your stomach in knots every time that awful thought creeps back into your mind. It took me years to get that feeling to stop… to allow myself to trust that his majesty wouldn't do that… I hadn't thought about it in a long time."

Good. Kurogane didn't want Fai to think about it and he hoped Yuui could put it out of his mind soon.

"—I _never_ want to make Yuui feel that like that. I would rather die then abandon him… It was just an empty threat, but it was the absolute cruelest thing I ever could have done to him."

"It was a mistake. It would hurt him way worse if you pushed him away because you couldn't get over a dumb mistake."

"I-I know… I know I need to get my shit together so I can be what he needs…I just- I wish I knew what to do to ease him. So he doesn't have to worry about me abandoning him… I don't know if I can watch him brake like that again."

At least that was a step in the right direction.

"How did you get over it as a kid?" Fai smiled for the fist time since he had joined him in bed and Kurogane felt a bit of hope that maybe the fight hadn't been that bad.

"Ashura-ou somehow always knew what to say to reassure me… I wish he was around to give me advice."

Yeah… given the fact that Ashura was the cause of a good portion of Fai's mental trauma—that sounded like a terrible idea to the ninja…

"You're doing ok on your own. Don't think so hard ok?"

Fai nodded his head slowly before dropping a kiss on the sleeping boys head.

"Will you snuggle us and keep us safe Kuro-puu?

Yeah. he could do that. They could work on repairing the damage tomorrow after some sleep…

0o0o0

 **OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED.**

 **To be fair—this was not a planned chapter. I swear the characters did it on their freaking own and it just fit so lovely I couldn't take it out.**

 **I apologize for the unplanned angst and I know have to find a way to write my way back into my outline! Wooo!**

 **Please let me know what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Writer rambles at the end as well as poor excuses! Check out my Tumblr for more info on what's happening with my WIP's or if there are going to be delays.**

 **I do not own Tsubasa**

0o0o0

Yuui felt terrible as his mind slowly roused from his exhausted sleep.

He felt sick—his stomach hurt, his throat was dry and raw, and his chest ached in a way it hadn't since mama had told him his Fai wasn't waking up… His body was heavy and sore, and the child was tempted to drift back off to sleep to avoid these feelings entirely.

He wanted Fai though… Fai would make him feel better. He always took care of him. He just needed to find Fai. Before he had even opened his eyes, he tossed his magic out to feel for his mismatched twin like he did every morning.

Normally he could feel if Fai was the warm body next to him, if he was in the garden, the kitchen, or the medicine room within seconds. Sometimes it would take more than a few seconds if he had to go to the village or when he had spent a day visiting the other warlords.

After a minute of searching he screamed in pure terror.

He couldn't find him—he could always find him—but no matter how hard he pushed he couldn't grab that familiar cool whisper of power that followed his mismatched twin.

Yuui could feel someone trying to pull him out of the tight ball he had curled in but he didn't care—he shoved them away with a raw burst of magical energy and continued to search frantically.

Had Fai sent him away because he had been so naughty yesterday? Because he had been so hurtful and mean?

He had promised! He had promised to always stay with him and keep him close?

What was he going to do? He couldn't even find his brother to say sorry!

Yuui screamed and screamed and screamed and no matter how loud he screamed he still didn't feel that cool magic that would make everything better…

Fai had really left him all alone?

There were voices in the room shouting at him and he covered his ears so he didn't have to hear. He wanted Fai! They needed to bring him his twin… he was going to die.

He couldn't live without Fai—he would rather die—he didn't want to be alive without his brother…

He was surely going to die from this pain in his chest—he was going to suffocate…

Where was Fai?

A sharp stinging pain on his cheek snapped his head painfully to the side and his blue eyes shot open to lock with their matching pair.

But—fai wasn't here—he couldn't feel him…

He was gone.

Maybe he had died and now they were together again? Had his heart exploded from that terrible pain and he had gone to be with Fai?

Yuui was so very confused and he started to cry as he reached out for his twin.

At least they were together—that's all that mattered.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Fai accepted him with open arms and the child buried his nose in his brother's neck, relishing in his comforting scent and warm feel of his brothers arms around.

"I—I don't kn-know… Where are we?" Had they really died? Is that why he couldn't feel his twin's magic?

He was so confused. Yuui didn't understand what was happening. How could Fai be right in front of him if he couldn't feel even a whisper of his magic?

"Were in our room Yuui."

"We are?" He pulled back slightly and looked around the room.

Fai wasn't wrong. They were in their room with their beds, furniture, and even Kurogane was here… Though he looked upset. Why was he upset had he died to?

"You woke up screaming. Are you ok? What scared you?" His brother was frowning and pressed the back of his hand to Yuui's forehead. He didn't feel feverish… He didn't feel good, but he knew he wasn't sick.

Had that been a dream?

Cautiously Yuui tried one more time to feel for his twin's magic—again he couldn't find even a hint of it.

Yuui hardly recognized that the pained whimper that caused the adults to both flinch had come from his own sore throat. He wiped at the tears that started falling from his tired eyes and tried to work up the courage to ask if they had died.

Were they eaten by the dragon?

Had some terrible serial killer broken into the house and murdered them all?

What about Sakura, Syaoran and the baby? Were they murdered too?

"Yuui. Please if you tell me what's wrong, I will fix it." Fai cupped his cheeks and kissed his forehead before leaning back to watch him.

How could he fix it if they were all dead? Even Fai couldn't bring the dead back to life… He knew—Fai had told him so when Yuui had asked during their lessons.

Fai couldn't do healing magic—even the best healers couldn't bring the dead back to life.

Fai couldn't fix it.

"Maybe just left-over feelings from yesterday?" Kurogane, who had been siting against the far wall for some reason, offered as he got to his feet.

Feelings from yesterday? Could he not feel Fai's magic because he had gotten so upset yesterday? If that was true, then he needed to try and stop—he needed to stop—he needed to calm down and tell Fai…

Yuui scrunched his eyes closed tightly and snuggled close to Fai as fresh tears feel from his eyes. He didn't know if they were because he was panicked or because he was frustrated that his feelings weren't listening to him and he was making everything worse.

"Yuui. Please take a deep breath with me?" Fai whispered in his ear as he ran a hand up and down his back and Yuui curled even closer.

He was upsetting Fai… His twin sounded so exhausted and Yuui knew it was his fault.

He didn't want to do that anymore… His brother had been so very sad yesterday all because Yuui was so bad. He was such a bad brother.

Fai should send him away.

"Breath with me Yuui—" Fai continued to rub a hand up and down his back and Yuui heard him suck in an exaggerated deep breath.

Yuui tried—he really did—he didn't want to not do as he was told. If he did as Fai said and behaved, then maybe Fai would forgive him for being so bad? He only succeeded in a quick gasp and he whimpered again.

"Almost—you're getting close Yuu. One more time. Deep breath with me—" Yuui heard Fai take another big breath and hold it a moment while he tried to mimic. "Yuui—I know you are scared right now—" Yuui felt his brother wedge an arm between them and gently pry them apart before tilting the child's chin up so he had no choice to look at his brother.

Fai looked so worried. Yuui didn't mean to make him worry. He was trying he really was.

He wanted to tell Fai that he couldn't feel his magic—that something was terribly wrong, but his body didn't want to listen to him. His mind was racing and no matter how many times he told himself to just breath—his lungs remained tight and he couldn't manage more then short cries and gasps. It felt like someone was sitting on his chest and if he could just push past that terrible tight feeling, he could tell Fai.

He wanted to stop. He wanted to stop. He needed to stop. He needed to calm down to tell Fai. For Fai.

Yuui tried to hold his breath for a second—then for two—the gasps between were a little deeper—and he tired for three.

"You're so brave. You're doing so good Yuui. Just like that—let's slow down and we can go get some treats and spend the day together… I'll teach you some new magic perhaps?" Fai kissed his forehead again Yuui managed to swallow a few times.

"I—I couldn't—Why—Fai." Yuui hated this!

"You couldn't what? I can help you Yuui." His mismatched twin offered a reassuring smile and Yuui didn't know why he cared.

Yuui didn't deserve it.

Kurogane and Fai were so much better off without him here to ruin everything.

Papa had been right—he was better off dead—a useless leach.

"I can't—your magic—I—Fai—" Yuui would give anything to feel his brothers magic. He was so sorry he had been bad! Now something terrible had happened and he couldn't feel Fai even though he was right there.

"My magic?" The taller blonde's brows furrowed in confusion and Yuui tried his best to get himself under control enough to find out why. Was it his fault? "Oh! Oh no. No Yuui its ok."

With those words Yuui felt his twin's magic flood the space around them and the comforting coolness was the most wonderful thing he had ever felt. He sucked in a deeper breath and let out another cry—this time from the pure relief.

"Oh you poor thing that must have been so scary hm?" Fai pulled him in for a big hug and Yuui relaxed against him, doing his best to catch his breath.

"W—why Fai? Was it—was it because I was bad?" He hiccupped and snuggled as close as their position allowed—reaching out and feeling his twin's magic, soaking it up as much of Fai as he could.

"No no. You were not bad—you are never ever bad Yuui. I didn't do that to punish you." The older twin pulled away from him even though he did his best to hold onto him. Given their size difference there wasn't much Yuui could do to stop him. He felt a lot better when Fai cupped his face again so they could see each other's eyes.

"Then why?" He didn't understand… That had never happened before.

"To be completely honest with you—I was really upset about scaring you yesterday. While I worked that out, I locked down my magic so it wouldn't affect your sleep little one. I didn't mean to scare you—that's the first time I've done that around you isn't it?"

"I—I thought that you had left me… or that someone might have taken you. That you died… I didn't know that you could do that." It didn't matter—Fai didn't do it on purpose, and he was ok.

He just didn't know…

"One day you will learn how to do that too when you don't feel like sharing the way you feel with other magic users. It doesn't hurt or anything—it just locks everything down so you aren't as easy to find without a pinpointed seeking spell." Fai tugging him in for another hug and Yuui nodded against his chest.

"Why didn't you want me to know you were hurting?" Normally when Fai was upset Yuui could feel it though his magic and wake up to cheer him up…

Why was he hiding that?

"It's not that I didn't want you to know. I knew you had so many of your own emotions to deal with that you didn't need any extras making it worse. I was hoping it would help you feel better sooner."

"I'm sorry…" Fai shouldn't have to put Yuui's feelings first.

That wasn't fair. Fai should worry more about his own feelings—especially after how mean Yuui was to him. His twin had never ever said anything mean to him.

Yuui had done it twice now just because he didn't get his own way.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"You shouldn't have to do that. I should be better—good enough so that you are allowed to feel sad without worrying about how it will affect me." He was a terrible brother.

Fai was better off without him.

"You will get there. I couldn't shut out powerful magics at your age and it influenced me just like they do you." Fai suddenly sounded very tired and he ended the sentence with a yawn.

Yuui was willing to bet he hadn't slept much… not with how sick he looked.

It was all his fault.

He wasn't sure what to say anymore. He felt silly for panicking like that first thing in the morning, but he didn't want to talk about it. Kurogane must have moved back onto the bed when he was having his fit—and he and Fai both laid back down on the bed with him between them.

Yuui didn't deserve this—they made him feel so safe and warm when they laid like this.

They never complained that he didn't stay in his own room—he wouldn't even stay in his own futon most nights… they were always so welcoming and loving and Yuui was just a bratty kid who said mean things.

They stayed like that for a while. He ended up rolling onto his stomach and burying his face into the pillow so they wouldn't see the tears that he couldn't stop. Fai played with his hair—and Kurogane's heavy hand rubbed up and down his back until the sun had started to rise high enough to brighten the room.

Yuui didn't think any of them managed to fall back asleep. Fai's magic was buzzing with nervous energy and it made Yuui feel bad for being the cause of his brother's distress. Kurogane never stopped rubbing his back even though he kept his eyes closed and was breathing slowly and evenly.

They stayed like that until the sun was above the tree line and the birds were almost done with their morning songs. Fai was the first to brake position and Yuui jumped when his twin rolled over dramatically on to his back and gave an exaggerated yawn. Yuui and Kurogane both watched the silly display and the playful look Fai shot his way.

"Where I come from, in the fall time we have a festival before the weather turns, after we finished harvesting the last of the crops. Winters are harsh so fall is the last time to see your neighbors and friends until the spring, so it was always a big deal. We would make something called _Hoska_."

Yuui scrubbed at his eye and waited for Fai to continue. He liked when Fai told him stories about Celese—and he really liked it when he made Celesian food. They didn't have the proper ingredients to do so often but what Fai had made for them so far had always been delicious.

"It's something that takes all day to make and you have to do it with the whole family. Once it cools you gather with your family and friends to enjoy and eat it with warm spiced tea or hot cider while you listen to music and celebrate all the hard work you put in to prepare for winter." Fai smiled kindly and smoothed the bangs out of Yuui's face.

That sounded nice. When he still lived with his Fai and mama, winter was full or rain and occasionally frost or ice. They didn't have any holidays this time of year… at least none that he could remember.

"Can we make hoska? All of us together?"

With Syaoran and Sakura… Kurogane too… Yuui would really really like that because they didn't get to do many things together and food always brought everyone to the table.

"Does Kuro-chan want to help us make _hoska_?" Yuui whipped his head around just in time to catch as Kurogane nodded his head.

"Do you want to see if the Sakura and Syaoran want to help us too?" Fai pulled himself up into a sitting position and stretched his arms over his head as he spoke.

Yuui sat up as well and frowned… what if they were mad at him for acting so mean yesterday?

Fai loved him—they were always so nice to him—but what if they were angry with him for being such a big brat?

"I—are they mad at me?" Yuui's kept his eyes locked on his hands as he asked.

He couldn't blame them if they were… they were so happy to be having a baby and—

"I know you're not as dumb as your brother. No there not mad. Go ask them." Kurogane lifted Yuui up as he heard this and tossed him over to his shoulder and headed towards the door.

Yuui wasn't really sure what was happening until Kurogane opened the bedroom door and thunked him back down onto the hardwood floors. He shivered as his bare feet made contact with he cool wood but he hardly had time to think about that before Kurogane was knocking on Sakura and Syaoran's door.

It didn't take long for it to be opened by Sakura. She first noticed Kurogane who just pushed Yuui towards her.

"Hey now what's wrong?" Sakura knelt down and pulled him into a warm hug.

Yuui didn't know why he had started crying again. He didn't know why his feelings weren't listing to him. Why he was causing even more problems.

The fact that he had no control over it only made him cry more and Yuui really just wanted to go back and snuggle Fai until he felt more like himself.

"W—Will you make hoska with us today?" Yuui wrapped his arms around her shoulders and spoke quickly into her shoulder and she hugged him just a little tighter.

Sakura gave really really good hugs. Almost as good as Fai hugs.

"What's hoska?" She pulled back just enough to give him a warm smile and Yuui suddenly realized that he had no idea. He shrugged weakly and looked back at Kurogane who also shrugged.

0o0o0

For the first time in a long time Fai was the last one up. He was thankful that Kurogane had followed Yuui out of the room to see if the kids wanted to bake with them.

He had needed a moment to compose himself.

Privacy was rare these days but after all of the raw emotions swirling around from last night, and with Yuui's heart breaking display this morning to top it off, he needed to be by himself even it was for just a moment. He could hear the kids getting up and heading to the kitchen and he could feel his brothers gloomy magic starting to lighten as Sakura spoke softly too him.

That did wonders to put his worries at ease. The best thing he could do for Yuui was to move on and make sure they stuck to their usual routine—to a point at least.

They needed to get up, eat, do their chores, finish their lessons, and then do something fun just like any other day. Just because they had hit a bit of a road block didn't mean they could stay in bed all day depressed and feeling sorry for themselves.

Fai washed his face with cool water and leaned against the sink as he slowly combed out his hair and tried not to think too hard about how terrible it was of him to scare Yuui like that. He should have known after yesterday's meltdown that it was a bad idea to close himself off.

There wasn't anything he could do about it now though—and his poor twin had calmed down as soon as he had released his control and let his magic do as it pleased. Getting some food in them and maybe some calming tea would help ease the way into a better day—just because they had woken up on the wrong side of the bed didn't necessarily mean that they had to start the day on off on the wrong foot as well.

Not that Fai really had the mental energy to start on the right foot today-Yuui needed him too, so he would put on a happy face and make some memories while they still could.

Tomorrow would be a new day as well and they were only going to get better at dealing with emotions when they overflowed. At least-that's what he kept telling himself.

That was pretty much the only thing Fai knew how to do when it came to things like this-He remembers what it was like being a child and not being able to let bad emotions, memories, and situations pass. He also remembers being kindly reminded by Ashura-ou that tomorrow would be a new day and that's all that really mattered.

It had helped him—and he hoped it would help Yuui as well.

Fai worked out the last few tangles at the end of his hair slowly. Kurogane liked it long even though he would never admit it aloud—but it was time for a trim. The ends were starting to split, and he was sure Kuro-chan preferred soft hair over long hair.

He probably wouldn't even notice 2-3 inches of dead ends being clipped away.

Probably.

Since he usually kept his hair clipped up these days, it isn't too terribly tangled from sleeping and soon enough he is twisting it into a lose braid over one shoulder, securing it at the bottom with a light blue ribbon.

Yuui and Sakura had picked this out for him at Grandma Katsuya's shop little over a week ago and he has been sure to wear it every day to show them just how sweet he thinks the gift was.

A few pins keep his bangs out of his face and now all Fai has to do is change out of his pajamas and he would be ready to play in the kitchen and make a few more family memories before they were again thrown into an unknown, and potentially dangerous situation by Yuuko. Yuui really really loved helping him bake and so did Sakura. Syaoran liked eating the treats they made, and Kurogane would probably like the _hoska_ as well as it wasn't overly sweet.

It was perfect remedy to take care of the last of the sour mood that was lingering and even though Fai was exhausted—he was looking forward to the hard work of making fresh bread.

He quietly made his way back into the bedroom and nearly jumped out of his skin when he opened the door to find the ninja leaning next to the door frame.

"Don't sneak around like that Kuro-chan. It's not nice." His nerves were shot, and with the way his magic was buzzing with nervous energy, his other senses were dulled.

Not that his lover would have any way of knowing that.

"Don't think I've ever managed to sneak up on you." Kurogane pointed out as he stepped aside to allow him access to the closet, and Fai couldn't help but smile as he felt his lover hug him from behind.

They must have really worried him, he and Yuui both. Kurogane showed affection in his own way, but Fai rarely got cuddles outside of bed. No doubt waking up to shrill screaming and getting hit with magical backlash had the retired ninja on edge too.

Yuui had a tendency to wake them up in interesting ways when he had a bad nightmare, but that had been jarring for even Fai. He couldn't ignore the guilty feeling that soured his stomach, knowing that he really could have prevented all of this upset if he had just handled the situation better with Yuui yesterday...

Fai knew he couldn't dwell on that though. He had sulked long enough, and he pulled a bright smile on to his face as he started to look through his clothing.

"I don't want any complaints from you. You're the one who turned me into a mon–"

"You're not a monster." Kurogane cut him off with a sigh and now Fai felt guilty for an entirely different reason.

How he referred to his vampiric nature always caused an argument, and this was an old debate.

"Well I'm not human ether." Fai wasn't about to open that can of worms—they had agreed to disagree on the whole 'Vampires are/are not monsters" topic. Instead, Fai selected one of the robes that Tomoyo had sewn for him on their last trip to the capital before Yuui had arrived in Suwa. The dark blue fursudo would match his ribbon nicely and would be hard to stain while baking. "I don't know another word for it I'm afraid. Not a bad monster though Kuro-chan."

Fai had gotten over his anger about Acid Tokyo years ago, but it never got easier when the subject came up.

"You're not a monster. You're Fai. Weird as shit but we still love you." Kurogane kissed his neck before taking a step back so that Fai could slid out of yesterday's clothing.

"Awe, Kuro-chan. I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me!" he cooed playfully, and crimson eyes rolled in annoyance.

Kurogane wasn't good at being emotional or mushy, and Fai never knew what to do on the rare occasions he was. Teasing was how they dealt with 99% of their problems though and it had worked so far.

"Keep that shit up and I'll kick your ass mage." Fai had slid the robe on and waited patiently while Kurogane secured the obi for him. Again-the ex-ninja wasn't usually so affectionate, but Fai had a feeling they both needed the extra physical contact to sooth there nerves before they had to face the kids and Yuui.

This was Kurogane's way of babying him, just like how he had carried Yuui to the kid's room this morning—he was being sweet and making sure the both of them were alright.

Fai would have to make a hell of a _hoska_ loaf to patch this up, now wouldn't he? Maybe a magic lesson this afternoon while the bread baked–something easy and showy that would brighten Yuui up.

It would be impossible for any of them to be sad when Yuui got excited.

"Kuro-sama is so violent." Fai turned around and pecked the unsuspecting ninja on the lips as soon as Kurogane had finished with securing his robe. "Violent and sweet. Such an odd combination."

He growled and Fai smirked before slipping past him and running up the hall–Kurogane hot on his feet. Yuui and the kids both smiled up at him when he skidded to a stop before snatching his twin up and 'hiding' behind him. "Yuui! Save me! Kuro-embarrassed is going to beat me up for calling him sweet."

Kurogane came to the end of the hall and narrowed his eyes at the two of them–a small smile on his lips. "You have got to be kidding me. Using your twin as a shield? Face me like a man mage."

"You said it yourself–I'm not a man or a monster–Just Fai–And Fai can't make _Hoska_ if you beat him up." Fai didn't miss the way that his dramatic tone brought smiles to the kids's faces and he hoped Yuui was equally amused.

It had taken the child a while to get used to the way he and the ninja constantly bickered, but lately their little games left him giggling and smiling like a little boy should when the adults were being silly.

"Tell him Yuu." He squeezed his little twin's shoulders and gave his best silly smile when the bewildered child glanced back at him.

"But he can't catch you even if he wants to…" the child's voice was soft as he spoke, and he jumped when Fai laughed before giving him a tight squeeze.

"Ouch. Here that Kuro-sama. Yuu says you can't even catch me. You must be getting old." The older blond straitens and pats his brother's hair before casually strolling into the kitchen.

Yuui just had a way of saying the perfect thing at the perfect time so that Fai couldn't help but laugh.

"Who are you calling old Mage? If I'm old you're an ancient artifact." Kurogane stalks across the room and thumps down next to Yuui at the table, ruffling the kid's hair so he knows he hasn't said anything to upset him.

"Fai is older than you?" Yuui wasted no time in crawling into the ninja's lap and settling him so that he could look up at Kurogane.

How could he be so impossibly cute? Even after such a hard morning he was cheering everyone up just by being his adorable self.

"Yeah. Fai is older than dirt didn't you know?" Kurogane answered and playfully glared at Fai. "—He won't tell us how old he is, but the witch ratted him out." he rolled his eyes again when Fai responded to his accusation with an overly dramatic display of offence which caused Yuui and the kids to chuckle.

"You act like I'm some decrepit old man pretending to be a youthful beauty to steal you away." Fai turned his attention back to the task at hand and pulled out the few ingredients he would need to cook them a simple breakfast before lighting the stove. All the while playing up the mock offence with a dramatic sigh. "He's right though, I am a bit older than Kuro-chan."

"How much is a bit?" Yuui sounded genuinely curious and Fai didn't even turn around to see just how amused Kurogane must be at the discussion of his age.

It wasn't like it was a huge secret or something he was embarrassed about. It was just complicated to explain that he honestly had no clue how old he really was, and he didn't really like talking about why.

To be honest Fai wasn't ready to talk to Yuui or Kurogane about Valerie—or that he didn't know how many years he was in that timeless prison. He would probably tell his twin about it one day—about how his own Yuui had actually passed away—but neither of them are ready to really discuss that.

It was much easier to playfully avoid the question of how old he is all together and simply explain that Magic extended one's life time.

"Where I come from the calendar is very different from how it is here. That and I was born in a different world then I was raised in. Just like you. So I have no idea exactly how old I am but for a magician with my level of power I'll probably retain my youthful appearance for quite some time." Fai explained as he continued on with prepping there morning meal, making sure not to leave much room for additional questions that would take it from a fun discussion, to an uncomfortable one.

"I know I'm seven-ish though. You really have no idea?" Fai picked up on the hints of sadness in his twin's tone and tossed a warm smile over his shoulder.

"I honestly have no clue. Magicians aging slows considerable once their full grow, and even as children we age slowly." Yuui didn't seem to like that answer one bit and Fai watched the child's brows furrow in thought. "That's why you're so much smaller than the other children your age. It's just how we are." He cracked a few eggs into the frying pan and scrambled them as his words sunk in for his tiny twin.

"Do you know how long you lived in Celese at least?"

"I would need to check the castle library to know the exact year the king took me in, but I lived in Celese for about..." It was far too early for this kind of math.

Fai knew he had arrived right before Ashura had gone to war with Wusrosi... which had been a hot minute ago... so that would mean he had been in Celese for almost 250 years...

"Let's call it 250 years give or take a few." Fai didn't miss the distinct sound of Syaoran miss swallowing his tea and Kurogane snorting in amusement and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like-

"What's cradle robbing?" Yuui batted his eyes and Fai had to give himself credit for not bursting out into laughter like the princess.

"Yeah Kuro-chan. Tell Sweet Yuui why you called your husband a cradle robber?"

"No way." The ninja took a long sip of tea and glared hard. "Not gonna happen."

"Is cradle robbing bad?" the poor child's voice quivered with serious concern and Fai had to swallow his amusement.

Poor Yuui.

"I don't know. Is it Kuro-Myuu?" Fai turned the flame down on the stove and schooled his expression into one of total innocence before he leaned against the counter.

It wasn't Fai's fault that he had dug this little hole for himself.

"Mage."

"Is it that I am a cradle robber, or you have a thing for older men?" Fai winked, Syaoran choked again and Sakura was hardly covering her giggles behind her hand. Kurogane looked like Fai had just slapped his mother and Yuui—of course had no idea what was going on.

Normally he didn't tease Kurogane about their relationship in public-but the ninja had started it and Fai could, and would always be able to out embarrass him over these things.

"One more words and I will kill you mage." he glowered and Yuui looked between them for a moment, his confusion only growing.

"Are-are you guys being gross?" The way the child wrinkled his nose made Fai loose it. Usually those jokes went right over the sweet boys head...

"Yeah—Fai is corrupting your mind and being gross." Kurogane answered all too quickly, not missing a beat and patted the top of Yuui's head. Fai was hardly able to feign insult at those words.

"Kuro-mean started it by calling me a cradle robber when he was the one who-"

"If you finish that sentence, I really will kill you."

Fai wasn't really sure how Kurogane managed to get out from underneath Yuui, all the way from the table, and right behind him so quickly—but it was pretty impressive to say the least.

"It's true though isn't it?" Fai teased with a bright smile that he was sure would only annoy the disgruntled ninja even more.

"That's not the point of it though is it?"

"Nope. It's not. It's payback for calling me old." Fai chuckled and Kurogane sighed.

"Sorry. Stop trying to give me a heart attack by telling Yuui things he shouldn't hear."

"Ok. I'll say sorry and stop but you have to answer me one question first ok?" He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling and Kurogane nodded slowly. "Do you like it when I rob your cradle?"

Fai barely got the last word out before he had to duck and run. He pranced across the room just fast enough to stay out of Kurogane's range and laughed as he went, the ninja hot on his tail.

The eggs were probably going to burn, but it wasn't like there was a shortage of them. So, Fai ran out of the room, up the hall, back into his bedroom with Kurogane cursing after him and only halfheartedly trying to actually catch him. It wasn't until he climbed up into the branches of one of the old oak trees that Kurogane finally got him.

That was only because the branches were only so strong and Kurogane was really good at climbing trees. Of course, when he was caught he did not expect Kurogane to tug on his braid, give him a kiss, and help him out of the tree.

When they found their way back indoors Fai was thankful that Sakura had finished preparing the meal and they joined them for a surprisingly peaceful breakfast.

Eggs and toast were simple and light, and he was happy to see his little twin munching away happily—his usual appetite returned. He and Yuui were very similar in their love for food, and what had worried Fai the most about his poor brother's mental state was his sudden lack of appetite.

Neither of them could choke anything down when they were too worked up, and no matter how many times he had asked his twin if he was hungry–the poor child had refused. It was good to see him eating with his usual enthusiasm even if Fai was still feeling a bit queasy.

He ate, all be it slowly, so as not to worry his poor twin any further today.

They may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but Fai was pretty sure they were off on the right foot at least. Today was going to be a good day he was sure.

 **0o0o0**

 **Heeeeey! Thanks for taking me back after I randomly fell off the face of the earth for a few months! For those of you who don't follow me on Tumbler and didn't get my random post ever few weeks of "I really wanna finish this fic but I'm a useless lump and will check back in when I am feeling less useless" Sorry for the short hiatus.**

 **It wasn't on purpose my brain just took an extended vacation but with the KuroFai Olympics in full swing I need to get my ass in gear and get back on a schedule for my on going WIP's it just might take a month or so to actually go back to having the same consistency as before. Especially because I also have to dedicate time to my entry.**

 **This chapter was a biiiitch and then some to write. I wasn't so sure if I wanted to switch back to how Yuui was feeling when he woke up and maybe show it from Fai, or Kuro's pov but I ended up doing it.**

 **I based the whole panic attack, racing thoughts, and jumping to insanely unlikely scenarios off what happens to me when I have an anxiety attack which is very similar to how a lot of people feel.**

 **I don't know if it came across well from Yuui's POV though and its not any easy thing to write and have it make sense? I spent a lot of time on it though but I almost pulled it and deleted it... I really hope it makes sense and you guys understood what was happening.**

 **Hoska is a real type of bread you can actually make and its pretty simple. I actually made some to get int he mood to pick this fic back up, and it was delicious! In the first few drafts of this chapter I had actually gone into the whole bread making business but I swapped it out for the discussion about Fai's age because it seemed to fit better.**

 **I am honestly self-conscious about this entire cheaper including Fai's Pov after. I didn't want him to come off as insensitive but I wanted to highlight the difference in the Twins's maturity by him taking a step back and starting a new day while trying to shake his guilt.**

 **If you have any suggestions to make this chapter better, I would greatly appreciate it! I think this will need a good hard edit, but I would like to get the whole fic out there first and go back and correct that chapters that don't hit the mark 100%**

 **Thank you all for your love and support and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


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